Tsunami
by theclaysquid
Summary: While on their honeymoon, Edward leaves in the night to hunt and a natural disaster strikes. When he returns will he be able to save Bella, or even find her?
1. Chapter 1

Tsunami

 _While on their honeymoon, Edward leaves in the night to hunt and a natural disaster strikes. When he returns will he be able to save Bella, or even find her?_

 _AN: This story is written on the basis that Bella is not yet ready to be turned into a vampire and that she isn't willing to give up her family yet. It's an excuse for whump without the easy solution of turning her into a vampire._

Chapter 1

When I woke I was groggy, it was one of those awakenings where for a brief moment I couldn't remember where I was. My surroundings were foreign; from the luxuriously soft bed sheets to the warm humid air. When my memories did come back to me I sat up in bed realizing what had woke me, I needed to pee. I felt next to me in the darkness searching for my new husband only to realize I was alone. In my groping along the bed my fingers felt something smooth, flat and stiff- it was a sheet of paper folded in half. I picked the note up and walked over to the light switch in the room. The outside of the note read: _Mrs. Cullen._

 _I'm hoping you won't wake and notice my absence, but, if you should_ , _I'll be back very soon. I've gone to the mainland to hunt. Go back to sleep and I'll be here when you wake again. I love you._

I sighed, we'd been here for 2 weeks, it was obvious he would have to go and hunt sometime but I hadn't given thought to _when._ _Don't be so selfish_ I thought to myself. Knowing he'd stick to his word and be back soon I made my way to the bathroom drowsily. When I was done I found that I was half asleep and began to make my way back to bed longing to lie down. I collapsed face first on the satin sheets not bothering to cover myself back up; even though it was the middle of the night it was so warm.

I was just starting to drift off to sleep when the bed started to vibrate, lightly at first but then it quickly transformed to a violent shaking. The loud crashing sounds coming from other parts of the house told me that it wasn't just the bed shaking. _Earthquake,_ I realised. It was when a beam from the ceiling collapsed- crashing loudly onto the floor that I realised how bad it was. I was just trying to decide where to hide when all of the windows in the cottage began loudly shattering one after another including the ones in my bedroom. I dove under the bed for cover, making myself as small as possible and waiting it out.

It felt like hours passed before the shaking finally stopped, but even still I didn't move for a good few minutes to be sure it was done. I crawled out from under the bed once I was sure it was safe to do so. I was suddenly immensely glad that I had worn slippers earlier in the evening and I slipped them on hoping they would offer adequate protection from the shattered glass littering the floor. I lightly walked over to the light switch again and flipped it into the 'on' position. Nothing. The power was clearly out.

I made my way into the kitchen; even by the dim moonlight I could see the carnage that was once the cottage. It was in shambles, every window as far as I could tell had been blown out. The curtains and rods were on the floor, cupboards had opened and spewed out their contents. Bits of broken ceramic dishes covered the counter below as well as the kitchen floor. Even amongst the chaos I managed to locate what I was looking for, the old fashioned corded phone hung from where the base was mounted on the kitchen wall.

As I walked toward it, it swung back and forth and I grabbed it mid-swing. I picked it up and held the receiver to my ear- nothing but silence greeted me. I hung it up hoping that it had timed out, I picked it back up and desperately brought the phone to my ear praying I'd hear something. Silence.

'Damnit!' I cried, panic starting to creep in, I slammed the receiver back down and took a deep breath. I went to what were once the large glass doors and found my running shoes. I turned them upside down and glass rained out of them, I meticulously cleaned them out making sure no glass remained then slipped them on. I went to my bedroom and put on a pair of capris and a t-shirt. I felt a little bit better now that I was dressed more appropriately.

With Edward gone- having taken the boat- I realised that I was well and truly stranded, I couldn't get off this island- couldn't even call off. I tried not to panic as I walked out to the beach, hoping against hope that I might see Edward in the boat on the horizon coming back for me. Of course he wasn't, and not only did I not see him, I couldn't see _anything._

The normal lights of Rio were gone, extinguished. It was as if the city across the water had vanished, swallowed by the hungry ocean. I was truly starting to panic now, worried for the people across the water who were sure to be in danger, worried for Edward, worried for me. Even with the eeriness of the total darkness, my anxiety over Edward returning overrode my fears. Plus I don't think the house missing all of its windows and doors would be much help in keeping me safe if any animals or humans came looking. So I sat out on the sand of the beach feeling cold despite the warm air.

I can't have been sitting on the beach for longer than a few minutes before the water began retreating. This wasn't the normal push and pull of the tide, the water started pulling back and didn't stop. It got sucked back so far that I couldn't even see the water anymore in the moonlight. I didn't understand what had happened, why had the water vanished? I stood up to try to get a better view when I heard the faint sound of rushing water. It quickly became louder, _too loud._ Right after I noticed the sound I saw it.

A massive wall of water was coming crashing towards me, way too fast, way too big. The size of it shocked me- I couldn't make myself move for an agonizing few seconds, but when I did I was running faster than I ever had before back in the direction of the cottage. In my panicked brain I realized as I reached the blown out glass doors that if I went inside the water would fill the structure up and I would be trapped.

I quickly recalculated and turned left, sprinting towards the giant mangrove tree that I loved. If only I could reach the tree and climb out of the way of the oncoming wave, it was my only chance. The tree sat roughly 50 yards behind the cottage, with all of its scraggly roots and grizzled knots even I stood a chance of climbing it- if I could reach it that is.

As I ran I could hear the roaring of the ocean getting louder and louder as it neared the island, as if some ancient sea creature had come to life to claim me. As fast as I ran I knew I wasn't going to be fast enough but I didn't give up. I sprinted, my legs burned, my lungs ached for oxygen and I was close. _So close._ I reached out with my arm and my fingertips brushed the bark of the tree when I felt a brick wall slam into my back forcing me face first into the tree and engulfing me with salty water.

The blow to my forehead dazed me to say the least; the pain ricocheted down into my neck blazing a trail of pain from above my eyebrow to my neck. I registered this in a half second before I was tumbling under water, I was pushed around the tree as I tried scrabbling at its trunk only to be quickly ripped away. I could feel debris hitting me under water but it was barely registering as I quickly ran out of oxygen.

I struggled and kicked trying to find the surface only to be tumbled back down and flipped around. I couldn't figure out which way was up. I could no longer hold my breath and my body automatically sucked water into my lungs. _I'm dying, this is it._ I thought to myself in a moment of lucidity, it was when I had gone limp and could no longer fight that the water threw me back up to the surface. I vomited copious amounts of seawater before I was able to gulp some precious oxygen back into my lungs.

I managed to look up to see that I was being forced into the forest that lay behind the cottage and tried to brace myself as I was bounced from tree to tree. I was barely cognizant of the pain as I was pulled back under. I scrambled under the water knowing that I would die if I stayed under again for any length of time. I grabbed at multiple trees as I was forced deeper into the forest and I finally managed to grab hold of a branch and pull myself up, my head breaching the surface.

I clung desperately to the trunk as the water rushed by me. I had to be up 20 feet off the forest floor gauging by the appearance of the trees next to me. The tsunami had picked up so much debris that my back was being pelted with varies detritus from the forest floor and from the cottage that surely had to be completely submerged and destroyed. My hold was getting weaker and weaker the more exhausted I became; I was feeling my grasp weaken when suddenly the rush of water slowed and then stopped.

I couldn't comprehend how it could have gone from the rapid pace to almost a dead stand still in such a short period of time with my muddled thoughts. It wasn't until I felt the water begin to recede like it had earlier at the beach. The head injury made it more difficult to react in time but I tried to lock my arms around the trunk of the tree but I was no match for the rapidly receding water.

The insides of my forearms and my palms rasped against the bark of the tree that had been my saviour as I was ripped backwards as the tide pulled back out. I found myself in the same position I had just been in. I was immediately forced backwards into another tree knocking the wind out of me and bashing the back of my head this time reigniting the pain in my neck. I at least managed to keep my head above water this time as I was pulled back towards the beach.

I was frantically trying to find purchase on anything that I possibly could, even in my muddled state I knew that I didn't want to be out in open water, I knew that would be bad. Unfortunately I bounced off of everything I tried to grab. I was so exhausted at this point it wasn't surprising that I couldn't save myself, but still I tried.

It was once I saw the top of the cottage that I knew I was done for, there was nothing left for me to grab onto. The top foot or so of the cottage was all that was visible I noticed as I floated by it. I was struggling to keep my head above water as I was pulled quickly backwards by the tide. It wasn't long before I realised that it wasn't over, it was pulling back and drawing its strength again to once again pelt the island with another massive tsunami.

In the not too far distance I could see the tsunami reforming and rushing back towards me. I vaguely noticed I had stopped being pulled out into the open water and was again being pushed back towards land. I didn't know how I was going to survive this again, but I had to try- for Edward. The tsunami quickly reformed forcing me and all of the debris swirling around me back to land.

As I was approaching land I felt the agonizing pain of my right thigh being impaled by a foreign object and I screamed out floundering under water momentarily barely managing to pull myself back up to break the surface. If I was having trouble treading water before, now it was unbearable agony. My leg was barely working; it was almost useless in helping me kick to keep my head up.

Luckily I didn't have to work too hard as the water held me up well enough as I rushed towards land. The cottage was nowhere to be seen I noticed as I was pushed up what used to be the beach and quickly hurtled back towards the forest. I closed my eyes, realising I had no control over my fate and just let the tsunami take me.

My right shoulder quickly impacted with a tree and I both heard and felt something snap, I barely had a chance to register the pain from this as I continued to plunge through the dark forest being propelled by the force of the ocean. I continued to ricochet between trees getting various more injuries, but it wasn't until I crashed into a tree branch head on with my ribs that I knew the end was coming. The branch pierced me between two of my ribs on the left side of my torso and was quickly ripped back out of me as I continued on through the dark.

I could feel the life draining out of me from blood loss, pain and exhaustion. I was barely managing to keep my head above the surface and in fact I was getting sucked under more and more frequently only to just claw my way back up to the surface to hack the water out of my lungs. After what seemed like an eternity the force of the tsunami slowly came to a stop and very slowly started to drain back towards to ocean where it belonged.

This retreat was much slower and calmer than the last time, I was pretty sure that it was finally done. And while the extreme danger had passed I knew I was still at risk of getting pulled back out to open water from which I knew I would not survive. Ahead of me to the right I noticed a tree had been uprooted and was wedged sideways between two trees that were still standing. I used all of the last remaining dregs of energy that I had to kick and swim towards it.

I just barely managed to grab it as the tide was forcing me past. I wrapped both arms around the horizontal trunk trying to lift my chest up onto the log. I was barely gripping the log and hanging onto consciousness as the log slowly drifted to the forest floor while the water receded.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

EPOV

I had the scent of what I assumed had to be a jaguar, very similar to a cougar but more… exotic. I flew through the forest after it, its scent completely filling me, the hunt consuming me. I came upon it as it was crouched down ready to ambush a large marsh deer. I pounced and tackled it, biting into its neck so quickly it barely had a chance to put up a fight before it succumbed to the blood loss. I relished in the taste, so much more interesting and exotic than the deer and even the cougars I was used to in Washington.

I had just finished draining the animal when I felt a murmur from deep beneath the earth. This quickly transformed to a very large earthquake, it shook the forest around me. Loose branches fell to the earth as the trees swayed and shook from the force of the quake followed by an entire tree crashing down next to me. The earthquake went on for multiple minutes, as it was ending I began to run back to Rio.

I was suddenly extremely regretful that I had run so far into the forest to hunt my prey. It would take me at least 10 minutes to run back into town. I was consumed with worry for Bella; I pulled out my cell phone as I ran only to realize that I had no service. I cursed under my breath. I wondered if Alice had seen what would happen and had tried to reach me. I just hoped that I would get service once I reached the city.

Several minutes passed as I ran, I pushed myself to the absolute limit of my speed until I reached civilization. At this point I could no longer sprint at my normal speed; I was forced to run at a fast human speed to get to the docks. It was infuriatingly slow, but as I ran I noticed people screaming and running from the ocean. Because of the buildings of the city I couldn't see anything in the direction of the water, I kept running. I checked my phone again- nothing. The cell towers must be down. _Damnit._

I didn't even make it out of the city before the first wave pummeled the city. I was suddenly engulfed by the ocean, even I couldn't hold my balance and I tumbled as the water forced me into the ground floor of a storefront. Had I been human I would have surely drowned. I was forced to the back of the store by the strength of the wave as the room completely filled with water. I began to truly panic. If this could happen to me, what was happening with my Bella?

I recovered myself and began to swim back out of the building. The chaos was unbelievable. As I surfaced I was assaulted with the cacophony of screams, people calling family member's names, people screaming in pain, the roar of the water, the crashing of glass and metal on metal. I couldn't even think about helping, I had to get to the boat; I had to get to Bella. In the moment my brain didn't process the fact that there was no way the boat was still where I left it.

Swimming against the force of the tsunami was almost impossible even with my strength. As I swam under the water I was grabbing onto anything I could and pulling myself forward through the water. I was assaulted constantly by debris; I could feel my clothes tearing where my skin could not. I surfaced where I thought the marina was but there was nothing, I could see only one boat and it had capsized, the others must have sunk. I realized that I had to swim all the way out to Isle Esme.

Once I was out in the open ocean past the confines of the city I could feel the water withdrawing back to the ocean. I didn't let myself think about what this meant as I used the pull of the tide to help me propel myself farther into the ocean. I was aware of a human body every now and then floating around me but each one was silent with no heartbeat. I tried to keep my mind on one thing and one thing only. _I'm coming Bella._

I was making much better progress now that water was rapidly receding and working with me, until I felt the same force starting to build up again. I didn't even need to surface to figure out what was happening, a second tsunami was coming, potentially more devastating than the last. I figured that my only course of action to stop from having all of my progress undone was to dive deeply to the ocean floor.

Even from so far below the surface I could feel the tsunami racing above me back to land; luckily I was correct and was untouched by the force of nature. I continued to rocket towards Isle Esme, hoping against hope that it was somehow untouched. I pictured Bella still asleep in our bed, waking only when I got there, confused as to why I was sopping wet. She was never that lucky though, proven by the fact that a horrible natural disaster strikes in the few hours I left her alone in the last two weeks.

Swimming to Isle Esme took longer than I had hoped and by the time I reached the shore the sea had settled for the most part and the sun was just starting to peek on the horizon of a blessedly cloudy day. I hoped that the cloud cover would hold up in the likely case I needed to be around people today. As I pulled myself up the beach the site that greeted me was worse than I could've imagined.

The cottage was gutted, the walls stood but that was about it, the windows smashed, the contents of the cottage were littered along the beach and into the forest behind it. If my heart was beating it would have stopped at the sight, it didn't look like anyone could have survived this. I ran for the cottage shouting 'BELLA!' knowing that I wouldn't hear a response. I couldn't hear anything- including her heart…

I stepped through the shattered glass doorway knowing that if she was in here I wouldn't be finding her alive, but still I searched. I flipped over the large pieces of furniture and searched the entire building; I found nothing which gave me hope. The two options for her location were the forest or lost in the ocean. I didn't even entertain the option that she was floating somewhere in the abyss that I had just swam through. I ran for the forest.

The forest was littered with debris and fallen trees; I also noticed that it was silent, no bird calls, nothing. I assumed everything had run for higher ground, I could only hope that Bella had managed to do the same. I had been so surprised by what had happened and I have the gift of extra abilities, Bella is just a human, a human who was likely fast asleep when this hit. I shuddered at the thought and kept my mind focused on finding her.

'Bella!' I called again as I combed the forest looking for her. It was taking too long; I had been searching for roughly 20 minutes with no sign of her. The water had washed away any and all scent of her; it was like she had never been here at all. As I walked through the forest I suddenly caught the very faint smell of human blood, _her blood._

I quickly located the blood, about 20 feet up on the edge of a tree branch. _No._ I thought, horrified. This proved that she was indeed swept up in the tsunami; I doubled my search efforts screaming her name. After another few miles I found one of her running shoes soaking wet leaning up against a tree, I smelled deeply and I just barely smelled her scent. She had definitely been wearing this recently.

As I continued to run I began to smell the slight scent of blood, I raced towards it. The smell grew stronger and stronger as I ran through the gradually lightening forest.

BPOV

When I awoke it was still dark although I could see some light on the horizon when I lifted my head. I woke to realize my upper body and arms were still draped over the fallen tree that had saved my life. I tried to lift myself up and my right shoulder screamed out in pain and I collapsed back down over the log. Through the fog that was my injured brain I became aware of another much more dire injury. The way I had been laying on the log must have been serving to seal the puncture wound in my chest but now that I had shifted the wound reopened and immediately my breathing became next to impossible as I heard a hissing coming from my chest with every breath.

I managed to turn myself over so that just the back of my head rested on the log and in doing this I briefly passed out from the pain. As I flipped over, the stick that had gone clean through my leg was pushed on causing unbelievable agony to erupt within it. When I came to all I was aware of was pain, the pains in my head, neck, left chest, right shoulder and thigh were the most pressing ones. I slowly shifted myself down off of the log wanting to lay my neck flat knowing that I had injured it and the back of my head, not wanting to make them worse.

I lay flat on my back listening to the whistling of my chest, I looked down and pulled my shirt up with my left hand revealing a myriad of black and blue bruises, but also a hole in my chest between my ribs that bubbled pink with every breath I took. Breathing was becoming extremely difficult and all I could think to do was to seal the hole shut with my hand. I breathed out first letting the air bubble up then quickly covered it over with my shaking hand and inhaled, the difference was definitely noticeable.

All I could do now was hope that Edward would find me before my strength wore out and I could no longer hold the seal over my chest. As I lay there on the forest floor with my blood slowly leaving my body I could only think of two things, the immense all-encompassing pain I was in, and Edward. I hoped he was okay, I didn't know if he'd even be able to get back to me after what happened. No way could a boat get through a tsunami; even if he waited, there would probably be too much debris to even get the boat out of the marina.

My brain was so foggy from the repeated head trauma, I thought I heard someone shout in the far distance but I quickly dismissed this. No one was here, I was alone. I was drifting in and out of consciousness, my hand would slip off my chest wound and the impossibility of breathing would wake me immediately and leave me scrambling to cover the hole again. A single tear slipped down the side of my face. I was exhausted; I'd never been so exhausted, just holding my left arm up to the wound in my chest seemed beyond what energy I had left after what I just went through.

The sun was rising a little higher into the sky when I heard it again, someone yelling. I couldn't make out what they were yelling but I was sure this time, I had definitely heard a person. I tried calling back out to them 'H-' I immediately choked on the blood bubbling up from my lungs into my chest and coughed and spluttered. 'Bella!' _Did I really just hear that? Did Edward make it back here?_ I thought to myself.

I turned my head and spit the blood onto the forest floor beside me. 'Here!' I managed to rasp out this time barely audible. I prayed it was loud enough for his sensitive ears to pick up. There was silence then 'BELLA!' and I heard the rapid approach of what I assumed was Edward running through the forest towards me.

'Oh my god Bella…' I heard Edward say quietly, I then realized that my eyes were closed and I peeled them open. This was easier on the left than the right; my right eye had slowly been swelling shut after slamming face first into the mangrove tree.

' _Edward.'_ I whispered trying to reach for him with my right hand but it lay useless at my side, my broken shoulder stopping my arm from moving.

'It's okay love, don't move. I'm going to get you help.' I felt his hands fluttering over me not knowing where to start; he looked like he was in shock.

'Don't breathe.' I whispered to him, tasting blood on my tongue and lips again.

He shushed me 'Try not to talk Bella.' He said as he wiped the fresh blood from my lips. 'Let me see.' He said as his hands gently pushed my left hand away. I didn't have the energy to resist and when the seal of my hand was broken I immediately sucked air into and out of my chest, I could hear it bubbling.

'Damnit.' He said to himself as he resealed the hole with his own hands. 'I'm sorry Bella.' His voice burned with emotion.

'I'm okay.' I whispered, eyes closing.

'Bella, open your eyes for me, no falling asleep now, okay?' He said urgently as I started to drift off again.

'Mm, sorry.' I whispered opening my eyes again.

'No need to apologize love.' He murmured. 'Bella I need to you tell me what hurts before I can move you.'

'Chest.' I said 'Leg, shoulder.' I devolved into a series of coughs after this, Edward lifting my head up so the blood could exit my mouth.

'Ah! Neck! Head!' I exclaimed in pain, his lifting my head had caused an explosion of pain in my neck and head again.

He quickly lowered my head back down and cursed loudly. 'I'm so sorry Bella.'

'I'm okay.' I whispered finally as I lay back down on the ground.

At that he let the hand that wasn't holding my chest together probe around my head where he found the wound on the back of my head and I gasped. 'Sorry.' He murmured again.

'Okay Bella,' he said and I looked into his face as he looked at me. 'I'm going to move you now, okay? I'm going to bring you back to the cottage, hopefully there's something there I can use to help you.'

'Edward…' I whispered, terrified of the pain, he must've heard my heart rate increase.

He leaned down and kissed me on the uninjured side of my forehead. 'I know sweetheart, I'll do my best to keep you stabilized, okay? I need you to do one thing though; I need you to cover the wound on your chest as I carry you. Can you do that?' he asked me.

I nodded and he pulled my left hand over the wound so quickly that no air got in or out. From there he lifted me carefully being sure to cradle my neck and right shoulder but even still I cried out in pain. I tried to stifle it but it was impossible.

'I know, I'm sorry.' He shushed me and then we were flying through the forest. Even at his rapid speed it was several minutes before we reached the beach, I couldn't believe how far into the forest the water had taken me. Edward carried me inside the ruined cottage and laid me on the wet mattress and I shivered. 'I know Bella, I'm sorry. Everything is wet.'

'It's okay.' I whispered again as my eyes began to close, too heavy to force back open.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

EPOV

'Bella! Keep your eyes open!' I half shouted at her, they remained shut and I got a soft 'Mm.' from her in response. I sighed and looked around frantically for anything that would help. I had to seal the sucking chest wound before she developed a tension pneumothorax, a collapsed lung. So far lung sounds were as good as could be expected and I didn't think there was too much air in her chest cavity.

After making sure her hand was still pressed firmly enough to the chest wound I ran to the bathroom silently praying that I'd be able to find the first aid kit I knew had been under the sink before the tsunami hit. As I entered the bathroom I started searching under the counter and by some miracle the white box with the red cross was still under there. I grabbed the wet box by the handle and pulled it out to see another miracle, the latches were still latched.

I popped it open to see that the seal held and everything inside was bone dry, I ran back to Bella who was shivering slightly. 'I'm here Bella.' I whispered to her. I was suddenly overcome by the look of her. The right side of her forehead to her cheekbone were various hues of blues and purples with a mean looking cut above her eyebrow, I knew there was an even worse cut on the back of her head that really worried me. Her shirt was lifted to just below her left breast, he entire left side of her chest and left hand were covered in blood.

The most grotesque to look at injury though was the large stick that had been pushed straight through her right thigh. The top of the stick came out to the outer side of her leg and the inside jutted in towards her left thigh and had in fact cut the inside of her left thigh. Her right shoulder was clearly broken and looked as though it was collapsed. Almost her entire body was covered in scrapes and bruises, if it wasn't for the quick rise and fall of her chest and the steady thump of her heart I'd have thought her dead. She certainly had the pallor of a dead body; she was pale from blood loss.

I shook myself from my reverie and went to her side, everything else could wait, I had to deal with the sucking chest wound. 'C'mon Bella, come back to me.' I said to her trying to rouse her as I rummaged through the first aid kit. I ripped open a sterilizing swab and lifted her hand briefly scrubbing around the site as bloody air bubbled from the wound. This elicited a groan from her. 'That's it sweetheart, come on back.' I said to her as I ripped open a plastic package of gauze, carefully placing the gauze back into the first aid kit and laying the small square of plastic over the chest wound.

Next I taped down three sides of the plastic with the blessedly dry tape. This created a seal- it would be sucked towards the wound if she inhaled but air could still escape. I watched for a few moments as it was sucked in towards the wound and then watched as a few pink bubbles escaped. I wiped them away with the same alcohol pad I used earlier.

'Bella?' I asked her.

'Hmm?' she mumbled, eyes still closed.

'Is that better?' I asked.

'Yes,' she sighed 'thank you.'

'Of course.' I kissed her forehead again and moved to stabilizing her neck. The way she had called out in pain when I moved her neck was incredibly alarming. I felt along her cervical spine and I gasped as I noticed deformities in two of her vertebrae. I found two hand towels in the bathroom and rang them out to make them as dry as possible, then rolled them up placing them on either side of her neck.

I then took the roll of tape and tightly wrapped it around both towels holding it and her neck firmly in place being gentle as I lifted her to wrap the tape beneath her neck. As gentle as I was she still whimpered when I moved her. 'You're okay.' I murmured.

'Bella, I'm going to look at your leg now, okay?' I asked her as I moved down to inspect the horrific wound.

'H'rts Edw'rd.' She mumbled out, it was hard to tell if it was the blood loss or the concussion slurring her speech.

'I know love, I'll try to be gentle.' I said to her, her admission of pain spoke to how much pain she was really in and it broke my heart.

I grabbed the scissors out of the first aid kit and cut her pants open up to the wound; to make it easier I just cut the whole pant leg off above the stick protruding from her leg. I looked at it overwhelmed; I didn't know what I could do for her with my limited supplies. There's no way I could extract the piece of wood without her bleeding out. I firmly grasped the end of the stick protruding on the inside of her thigh to stabilize it as my other hand snapped off the last few inches that were stabbing her other leg. I then did the same to the other side where it stuck out more than a foot reducing it to just a few inches on both sides.

That had to at least reduce the strain on her leg from the weight of it pulling on the wound. She had groaned multiple times throughout the process but hadn't opened her eyes for a while. Ignoring this fact, I grabbed the bottle of saline solution and poured it on both wounds around the stick, knowing it was probably futile since the stick was still firmly embedded through her leg. I ripped open multiple packages of gauze and placed them around the stick on both sides hoping to stop some of the bleeding. I then found a tensor bandage a wrapped it around her leg and the stick both stabilizing the stick and holding the gauze in place.

I looked at her shoulder, deformed and black and blue and knew there was nothing I could do for it here so I went to her head.

'Ok Bella the worst is over, I need you to open your eyes and talk to me. Can you do that?' I pleaded with her sitting next to her head.

'I'm here.' She croaked, cracking her left eye open searching for me and smiling once she caught sight of me, her right eye had swollen shut by now.

'How are you feeling sweetheart?' I asked knowing it was a stupid question.

'I'm okay.' She whispered.

'Do you think you could swallow some pills?' I asked her grabbing a bottle of water I found lying on the floor.

She tried to nod then stopped realizing she couldn't move her head. 'Yes.' She croaked out.

I grabbed the bottle of extra strength Tylenol knowing that it would barely touch her pain but I figured it was worth a try. I gently put her right arm on her stomach; this elicited a whimper from her.

'I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm going to lift you up so you can swallow these, okay?' I did it in stages; I would put one pill in her mouth then tip the bottle back and let some of the cool liquid pour into her mouth. I was incredibly grateful that she managed to swallow all three of the pills down and I lowered her upper half back down to the mattress. Her skin was colder than I would have liked.

I grabbed two blankets and rang them out as much as I could then I ran outside, shook them out and then hung them up on a tree hoping that they would dry quickly even without the added benefit of sunshine. I ran back in, hating to be gone from her for even a second.

With the major injuries dealt with I was able to take care of her more minor injuries. 'Hey Bella, I'm going to clean up your forehead a little bit, okay?'

'Hmm.' was all she could muster.

'You're doing amazing, love.' I encouraged. I grabbed the bottle of saline solution again and poured it onto another gauze pad and cleaned her forehead, face and around her mouth where she had coughed up blood. I noticed at this point that she needed stitches in her forehead but there was nothing I could do, I taped some gauze into place and moved on.

From here I used my sense of smell to find any and all cuts and contusions on her and cleaned them and covered them as well as I could. I then had to move to her back which was going to be a terrible endeavor due to her injuries.

'Bella, I need to turn you on your side now, okay?' she looked up at me with pleading eyes. 'I know sweetheart, I'm going to support you, I'll try to make it as painless as possible.'

'I tr'st you.' She slurred and I felt my chest constrict, I would never deserve this sweet girl as long as I lived, all I could do was make sure that I deserved that trust. I realized I would have to turn her onto her left side because the stick in her leg prevented me from turning her to the right. This meant that I would have to support her entire torso so as to not put any weight on her chest injury.

Using one arm I kept her head and neck stabilized as well as holding up her weight. Her breathing rate increased, clearly in intense pain. I quickly grabbed the scissors out of the first aid kit and cut the back of her shirt open. The myriad of cuts and bruises on her back was heartbreaking; I couldn't believe she had survived and it seemed harder to believe that she would remain alive.

I tried to deal with the cuts as quickly as possible, cleaning them, covering them with gauze and then again with tape to keep them dry against the wet mattress. I ended with the one on the back of her head, there wasn't much I could do for it. The back of her head was a bloody matted mess, all I could do was pile up some gauze on the back of her head. I laid her back onto her back as quickly as I could to see tears streaming down her face.

'I'm sorry sweetheart.' I murmured kissing the left side of her face where the tears were falling. Now that I had done what I could for her I was starting to panic. I had no way of reaching help, whether here in Brazil or to my family in Forks- my phone was completely waterlogged and useless now. I couldn't swim with Bella off of the island, the trip would kill her. Her only chance was Alice having seen this happen and sending help to us. All that I could do was wait.

I tried not to panic as I grabbed the saline solution again and used it to wash off Bella's hands and forearms gently trying not to cause her anymore pain. I grabbed the tweezers out of the first aid kit and started pulling wooden splinters from the small wounds.

'What d'd you hunt?' she asked slowly, breathily with her eyes still closed.

I breathed a laugh 'Jaguar, it was… interesting.' I said not looking up.

'Y'r still fighting fate.' She said after a few moments, so quietly I wouldn't have heard her if I was human.

I looked up at her; her left eye was cracked open looking at me. 'You're going to be fine Bella, I promise.' I told her firmly.

'I think 'm dying Ed'wrd…' my chest clenched at those words.

'Bella you look at me, you will not die from this you hear me? We're going to get you back home to Forks, you're going to see your father again. I promise you, okay? You told me you wanted to go school, we're gonna get to Dartmouth together. I promise.' She didn't respond, just closed her eyes, I could tell she was still awake but just barely.

I sat with her for an hour, cleaning her skin where there was dirt and blood, getting her as clean and Bella-like as possible. I went outside and retrieved the sheets that were blessedly mostly dry, as dry as they'd get in the humid air. She fell asleep half an hour ago but still shivered every now and then. I wrapped both sheets around her trying to warm her up.

Two hours after the tsunami had hit we were still alone, I hadn't seen any ships or aircraft that might be coming to our aid. Although Bella's shivering continued I had noticed a steady increase in her temperature; _fever._ I knew I would find none but I searched the first aid kit again for antibiotics, nothing. I tried not to freak out. We needed help, now.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Another hour passed and Bella was much the same as before; temp still increasing to what I thought might be right around 100 degrees. My hand reached up to my head tugging at my hair, I was frantic. I didn't know what to do to save her. My mind was racing through various scenarios of how to get Bella off of this island, one such thought was to make a raft and pull her to get help. I was pulled from my reverie by the distance sounds of what I thought was helicopter blades.

I ran outside to see a small green dot in the distance getting bigger as it approached me; I quickly pinpointed this as the sound. I waited for it to get closer within human visual range and I waved my arms back and forth hoping to catch their attention. Once they were close enough for me to hear their thoughts I realized there were three people on board, all three of their thoughts were in Portuguese. Luckily I had learned Portuguese years previously and was able to decipher that they worked for a private rescue organization in Brazil and had been hired by Carlisle to come and rescue us.

I backed up towards the cottage and left them plenty of room to land on the beach. With the pilot there were 2 paramedics and a helicopter full of supplies. For the first time since this catastrophe started I began to feel hope that Bella might escape this nightmare alive.

'Are you Edward Cullen?' Yelled the first paramedic to jump out of the helicopter in Portuguese.

'Yes.' I told him. 'Please, my wife needs help, she's direly injured.'

The first paramedic, a man with cropped brown hair turned back to the helicopter and helped the female paramedic who had green eyes and hair tied back into a bun, to unload a stretcher. They carried the stretcher over the sand as I lead them into the cottage.

I could tell Bella's temperature was even higher than minutes before when I had left. She was still unconscious, pale and breathing rapidly and shallowly. I went over a quick inventory of her injuries to the paramedics, they paid extra attention to my makeshift fix for her sucking chest wound. They wiped a little bit of blood away from the opening and the female paramedic turned to me.

'This is great work.' She commended, 'You saved your wife's life.' Then she turned back to work on Bella.

They deemed most of her injuries stable enough except that they placed a neck brace on her replacing my crude attempt at keeping her neck still and unmoving. Before they placed it on the male paramedic palpated her neck and frowned where I knew he felt the broken vertebrae, I tried not to think about it too much.

The three of us gently lifted her onto a back board and then carefully shifted her over to the stretcher, she didn't wake up once through this. The paramedic lifted the stretcher again and carried her across the beach, not able to use the wheels because of the sand. We loaded her up and quickly took off without another look backwards.

Immediately after securing Bella and taking off they started an IV, they placed pillows under her arm to support her shoulder. I sat in the closest chair I could get in to Bella without being in the paramedics way. They spoke back and forth to each other rapidly in Portuguese, sharing information about Bella's condition. It was jolting hearing her condition so bluntly from an outsider perspective even though I had clearly seen it for myself.

The panic that had ebbed a bit with the arrival of the paramedics came back with a force listening to their unfiltered thoughts. It was clear that they didn't think she would live, they clearly didn't know Bella. I retreated into my own thoughts, my gaze on my wife, trying to ignore the two paramedics in the helicopter.

The helicopter ride was about 45 minutes but it felt like hours. Bella had almost crashed multiple times during the ride, her blood pressure and heart rate plummeting. All three times they were able to revive her with multiple medications, one time they had had to use a defibrillator to shock her heart back into sinus rhythm but amazingly it worked the first time and she stabilized.

By the time we got to the hospital Bella was nearly white from the loss of blood that had been steadily trickling out of her despite the bandaging and pressure being put onto her wounds. Blood swirled around on the floor of the helicopter, the blood that I had once craved so strongly now sickened me beyond belief. She was taking short shallow breaths as we landed on the roof, she hadn't woken once.

There were other hospital personnel waiting for us, they received Bella from the helicopter and ran with her at an infuriatingly human speed towards the operating room while the paramedics ran along and conveyed crucial information. I ran with them until I was stopped at a set of double doors reading 'Staff Only' in Portuguese. One of the nurses kindly took my hand and led me to a bathroom where I could clean myself up.

I got to the private bathroom that was clearly meant for situations just like this and I stood in front of the mirror and looked in shock. I was covered in Bella's blood; I couldn't do anything but stare at my reflection in the mirror. Now that I didn't have something to do to help her, all I had to do was wait, I was collapsing in on myself. I couldn't move.

The nurse was back suddenly running tap water and shoving a face cloth under the water and handing it to me. It took me much longer than it should have to comprehend what she wanted me to do but finally I did grasp it and I started scrubbing Bella's blood off of my arms. I felt a gentle tugging and realized that the nurse was trying to get me to remove my shirt. I helped her and lifted my arms as she pulled it up over my head.

I continued scrubbing my arms and torso with soap and water until there was no trace of it left on my skin although I could still smell it. I noticed that the nurse had left me a worn white t-shirt and a pair of old blue jeans that both- thankfully- fit. When I was done the nice woman lead me to the public waiting room in the surgical wing of the hospital. I asked if she had heard anything and she told me that Bella was currently in surgery and it would probably be a while until I heard anything. 'Obrigado' I thanked her as she walked away giving me a sad smile.

I collapsed into the hard plastic chair of the hospital waiting room feeling exhausted for the first time in over a hundred years. Now that I had nothing to do but wait- the panic was all encompassing, I didn't last long sitting. I was spurred into action and without anything to do I paced the halls, I paced non-stop for hours. Multiple nurses had come to me asking if I needed anything, but the only thing I needed was news on my Bella which no one seemed to be able to give me.

It wasn't until 6 hours after arriving that Bella's surgeon came out to meet me and lead me to his office. I was trying to pick in out of his head what her condition was but he wasn't focusing on one thought for very long so it was hard to figure out exactly how she was. I gave up trying by the time we arrived at the surgeon's office.

'Mr. Cullen' the surgeon spoke to me in English in a thick Portuguese accent. 'My name is Dr. Acosta, I am Bella's surgeon.'

I nodded 'How is she, doctor?'

He sighed, not a good sign. 'She sustained a massive amount of blood loss from her various wounds. The most dire wound we discovered was the sucking chest wound which I was able to fix with surgery. I was also able to piece her shoulder back together with some plates and screws, the joint was shattered. She has multiple broken ribs and many, many lacerations to her entire body. She also broke her C4 and C5 vertebrae in her neck, I was able to correct it with a fusion surgery but she will need to be in a neck brace for 6-8 weeks. The most troubling injury though is occipital head injury to the back of her brain. During the surgery the swelling in her brain kept increasing and we were forced to perform a craniotomy to relieve the swelling.'

I thought I was going to vomit even though I knew it was an impossibility. The thought of Bella lying somewhere in this hospital with her skull cracked open was enough to make me stand.

'Please,' I choked out, 'I need to see her, please bring me to her.'

'Of course.' He stood with me, looked apologetic. 'Come this way, and please don't be alarmed. We have her on life support short term while she is kept under sedation. We will bring her out of sedation once the brain swelling is down.'

'Dr. Acosta, what are the long term effects of this brain injury, what damage has been done?' I asked, dreading the answer.

'I can't tell you for certain. I do believe that she will recover, but the most likely effect from this injury is visual deficits. The occipital lobe is responsible for processing visual information including visuospatial processing, colour differentiation and motion perception.' Dr. Acosta told me as we walked.

I felt my chest constrict, the thought of her not being able to see again was too painful to bear. I forced myself to snap out of it, if Bella survived this I could deal with visual deficits, I could help her deal with them as well. As I walked into her room I saw the most painful image of my entire life. If I lived to be a million years old I would never forget it.

My sweet, hilarious, beautiful Bella was broken. Tubes snaked down her throat into her lungs and stomach, as well as into her veins. She was covered in so many wires as well which were transmitting vital information to the monitoring computers. Beyond that she looked so unlike herself. The right side of her face from her hairline to her cheekbone was various shades of black and blue, her eye completely swollen shut. The left side of her face was still distinctly Bella save for a few small scratches, for this I was eternally grateful.

Her head was wrapped in a tremendous amount of gauze and packing protecting the area of her skull that had been removed. Her neck was firmly encased in a collar and that was all In could see above the sheets, the only other thing I noticed was that there was no longer a stick protruding from her thigh, the sheet lay smooth over a slightly bulky bandage.

I forced myself to slowly walk to her right side and peeled back the sheet to look at her right shoulder, there was a strip dressing down the front of her shoulder where they had performed the surgery. I noticed that her shoulder like most of her body was discoloured but having seen it before the surgery I could tell immediately that it was in such better shape. The surgeon had rebuilt her shoulder; it was no longer sunken and collapsed. I replaced the sheet back over her arm satisfied.

Next I lifted the sheet off of her right thigh and as I thought it was completely covered by white bandages. I reached down to her calf to check the circulation and it was thankfully pink and warm, slightly too warm. I figured she was running a temperature from infection, how could she _not_ have an infection from the stick through her leg and whatever had been floating in the water with her. I just had to hope that he broken body had it in it to fight it off. I replaced the sheet again and went to her left side.

The last injury I needed to check was the one that nearly took her from me, her chest wound. Again though, she was covered up by bandaging. From the discolourations on her ribs it was easy to see that she had several broken ribs but I was so glad they didn't also need surgical intervention. While I couldn't see the wound itself I could see the steady rise and fall of her chest and there was no whistle of air escaping from the wound. I breathed a sigh of relief having seen that she was as okay as she could possibly be and I sat down at her left side.

Her head had been turned slightly toward me to keep pressure off of her exposed brain. I couldn't stop myself from stroking the unmarred side of her face, watching the steady, artificial rise of her chest. As much as I hated the tubes that invaded her mouth I knew that they were what was keeping her alive and I tried not to look at them. I reached forward and held onto her left hand, the palm of which was bandaged- I assumed the same of the right.

There was nothing to do now but to wait. And wait.

Nurses shuffled in and out over the next few hours checking equipment, starting a tube feed, keeping her IV going. It was about 18 hours since the tsunami hit when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I was startled from my reverie to see Carlisle, Esme and Alice behind me; I had shut out the outside world from my head so completely that I somehow missed my family's thoughts as they approached. I was overcome with emotions that I had been keeping at bay and suddenly felt myself choking on them as my father pulled me up into a hug. My sister and mother soon followed, each pulling me into an equally tight embrace.

'How is she Edward?' Esme asked me delicately as Alice moved to sit at Bella's right side and Carlisle began to flip through the chart at the end of her bed.

I shook my head 'Not good, I'm amazed she even survived. She's so hurt; she just barely made the trip here. Thank you for that by the way, she would have surely died if you didn't send the helicopter to us.' I had turned to my sister and father. Alice didn't look up from Bella, just nodded and Carlisle said 'Of course Edward.' Then turned back to the chart frowning at what he read.

'What do you think?' I asked going to sit back in my chair at her side, feeling a physical ache from being separated from her for even a few moments. Esme pulled up a chair next to me and held my hand.

'I think that they did a wonderful job and made all of the correct decisions to care for Bella, I couldn't have done a better job myself.' I nodded and turned back to her.

'Hopefully the swelling will reduce soon and they can replace the flap of skull quickly.' Carlisle said closing the chart and replacing it.

'Carlisle, they said that the head injury might leave Bella blind…' I could barely continue 'do you think she has a chance to regain her full sight?' At my words Alice had tightly closed her eyes and laid her forehead down on the bed next to Bella's right arm.

'I think Bella has surprised us before. I don't know that she will regain full vision, but I have hopes that she will gain functional levels back that will enable her to live a full life. It is a moderate brain injury. Not irreversible but definitely not minor.' Carlisle told me.

I couldn't respond I just looked at Bella, assessing her again for what felt like the millionth time. The fact that I couldn't do anything to help her was killing me.

'What do we do from here?' I asked my father knowing that we couldn't stay in Brazil forever. We not only couldn't go outside most days but we had to avoid windows.

'Well, we can't do anything until the brain swelling goes down. Once the craniotomy is reversed they will slowly take away the sedation drugs. Once she is awake they will remove the ventilator, if she can breathe on her own and she is otherwise stable then we will have her transported to Forks.' Carlisle explained and I nodded.

'While we can't do anything for Bella except wait and be here for her, we do have to call Charlie and let him know what has occurred.' Carlisle said.

My heart sunk, how do I explain that I let her get so injured on my watch? How do I explain my complete lack of injuries? How can I face Charlie again after promising she would be safe with me forever?

My family sensed my increased stress; Esme squeezed my hand and stroked my arm trying to calm me.

'I will call him Edward; I will tell him what happened.' Carlisle said, walking up behind me and gripping my shoulder with one hand. All I could do was nod, I was so overwhelmed. If I was able to cry, I would never be able to stop.

I was aware of the sound of Carlisle's steps walking away from me and out into the hallway where he called Charlie. Esme held my hand as we all listened to the conversation between the two fathers.

'Hello Charlie, we located Edward and Bella. The help I had sent to the them reached them in time, we are at Sao Paolo Hospital in Brazil.'

 _'Is Bella okay?'_ Charlie asked frantically from across the world.

'She is gravely injured, Charlie. She and Edward were swept up in the tsunami, Edward managed to get up a tree and avoid most of the disaster but Bella was pulled from him and was critically injured. As it stands she has been in surgery for a multitude of injuries, the worst of which she is still in critical condition from. She sustained a major injury to the back of her head. Her brain was swelling to the point that they had to perform a craniotomy, they removed a portion of her skull to make room for her brain to swell.' Carlisle explained and listened for Charlie's response, the line was silent aside from the almost imperceptible sound of Charlie's increased breathing.

'Charlie?' my father asked delicately.

 _'Oh god…'_ Charlie said _'Is she going to be alright?'_

'I am optimistic, all of her other injuries have been dealt with and once the swelling comes down and they replace the piece of missing skull she should be taken off of life support and stabilized.' Carlisle said.

 _'I'm going to be sick.'_ Charlie said and indeed the sounds of him vomiting could distantly be heard over the phone.

'I'm so sorry Charlie, but I promise everything is being done here to save her, she's getting the best care possible.' Carlisle told him.

 _'Thank you Carlisle. I'm so glad you sent them help, she wouldn't be alive if you hadn't. I owe you a debt I can never repay.'_ Charlie said.

'Nonsense. Bella is family; we would do anything to make sure she's safe.' Carlisle said.

 _'Still, thank you. When I get off the phone with you I will be booking a flight to Brazil. Can you tell me how to get to you?'_ Charlie asked.

'Of course.' Carlisle then proceeded to tell him how to get from the airport to the hospital and where our room was from there. After that they wrapped up their conversation and Carlisle came back into the room to find us all sitting as we had been when he left.

'He should be here within the next 24 hours.' He told me and I nodded squeezing Bella's hand and we all settled in to wait.


	5. Chapter 5

_Thank you to everyone for the kind reviews, they mean more than you know and inspire me to keep writing!_

At 9am the next morning Bella was taken in for another MRI to monitor the amount of swelling in her brain. Roughly an hour later Bella's doctor came in and told us that the medication mixed with the craniotomy were working to drastically reduce the swelling in her brain and they would retest tonight- if the swelling continued to decrease then she would be brought back into surgery this evening to replace the piece of skull.

The day carried on slower than any I had ever experienced before in my life. At 6 o'clock that night they took her for another MRI, afterwards bringing her back to the room for us to wait again for news from her doctor.

At around quarter to 7 her doctor walked in. 'Great news!' He said as he entered the room. 'Her brain is back to its normal size and I believe that it is now safe to bring her back to surgery to replace the skull flap. I'm hopeful that tomorrow morning we will be able to take her off of life support if all goes well tonight.'

As grateful as I was, I was also seized with terror. I knew that this needed to be done to have Bella back but she was also here, safe, _alive._ Who knew what might happen on the operating table as they fit her skull back together like a jigsaw puzzle. I just nodded as I felt my breathing increase.

'She'll be ok Edward, she's so strong.' Alice said to me quietly, her first words spoken since she got here. The condition of her best friend had rendered her speechless with worry.

I nodded again, this time looking up at the doctor. 'Ok.' I said pulling away from her allowing him and the nurses who followed him in to take her away, as much as it killed me. As she was pulled from the room by the team of medical professionals I felt like part of me was going with her and I sat there, empty. All I could do was stare out the door after her.

Hours passed, I couldn't move. My family all tried to engage me in conversation but all I could manage was a nod of the head, or a shrug, I had retreated so far into myself I felt as though I was becoming catatonic. The only constant was Esme's hand in mine and the sound of Carlisle's footsteps as he paced the floor.

Any time anyone would pass the room everyone but me would look up to see if it was someone bringing news, I knew from their thoughts that they weren't. It wasn't until two and a half hours later that I could hear the thoughts of her doctor as he approached and I looked up for the first time since she had been taken. My family noticed my change in attention and followed my gaze to the door where the doctor was seconds from walking through.

'Hello.' Dr. Acosta said with a slight smile as he walked in. 'The procedure went very well. Bella is just in recovery now and they will bring her back here shortly. The swelling in her brain has continued to remain stable as shown by an MRI we took shortly after the surgery was completed.'

I sighed and closed my eyes at the news as Carlisle asked him all kinds of questions about the procedure, the life support and every other question that I had heard burning through his mind since Bella left. Esme and Alice were murmuring to me rubbing my back my hands, I couldn't reply except to squeeze their hands in return and nod.

I tuned back into the two doctors conversation as they talked about lowering the sedation with the plan of weaning off the ventilator once Bella had woken up. I hated that we would have to do that while she was awake but I understood the reasoning. The thought of her pain and panic when she woke up with a tube down her throat breathing for her was enough to cause me chest crushing anxiety.

She was brought back in shortly after this and I stood immediately as they wheeled her bed back into its spot with the headrest against the wall. I went to her and held her left hand again staring over her, she looked much the same as she did before she left, they had re-wrapped her head though. She was still fast asleep but I knew that they had begun to reduce the sedation; it was only a matter of time until she woke up.

About an hour after she was wheeled back in, Charlie showed up, looking quite a bit worse for wear. He was exhausted, hair askew with a suitcase being dragged behind him- he had clearly come straight here from the airport.

'Bells…' he whispered seeing her for the first time, he left his luggage at the front door and slowly walked to her right side where Alice had moved from to let him take her place.

'Hello Charlie.' Carlisle said sadly. Charlie completely ignored him taking Bella's right hand in his own, a tear slipping from the corner of his eye. My family had slipped from the room as Charlie took up vigil next to her, I wasn't going anywhere.

'What happened?' he asked hoarsely. I then went into what I assumed happened to Bella while I was away, except he thought I was desperately clinging for my life at the top of a palm tree. I listed her injuries for him when I found her and what I did for them when I found her. I told him of our rescue that my father had sent once he had seen the news of the earthquake and tsunami.

He listened silently, absorbing everything I told him. From his thoughts I realized that contrary to what I thought, he actually didn't blame me. He seemed… _grateful_ that I had saved her, not angry that I didn't protect her which is what I felt.

'Thank you Edward.' He said, voicing his thoughts. 'She would have died without you there, I'm so thankful.'

I looked up at him and shook my head 'I should've done more, I should have been stronger, I shouldn't have let her go. _I_ should be in that hospital bed- not her.'

'You and I both know that you can't overpower the strength of a tsunami, there's nothing you could've done differently. It's because of you that she's here at all.' He said sincerely. It meant a lot; Charlie has never been my biggest fan. Instead of throwing me under the bus like I deserved he tried to remove some of the guilt I felt.

All I could say was 'I'm sorry.' We were both silent for a while until I broke the silence.

'They've stopped the sedation drugs Charlie, we're waiting for her to wake up so they can take her off the ventilator to see if she can breathe on her own. A few hours before you got here they brought her for surgery to replace the piece of skull they had removed and it went perfectly, the swelling in her brain has continued to decrease. She's doing an amazing job.'

'Of course she is.' He muttered. 'She'll pull through this, she's so strong.'

I nodded 'There's one more thing Charlie.' He looked up at me, concern pulling at his features. 'The brain injury affected the occipital lobe of her brain. Along with any other symptoms that come with traumatic brain injuries, the doctor is concerned that because of the location of the injury, she may have some visual deficits.'

He looked confused and concerned, so I continued. 'The occipital lobe is responsible for processing visual information, when its damaged it may not be able to process this information which could result in blindness.' I heard his heart rate increase as his eyebrows shot up. 'We won't know for sure until she wakes up, but even then the damage might lessen over time. So any effects we see will likely improve.' I finished, trying to convince myself as well as Charlie.

Charlie's heart rate stayed elevated as he looked down on his daughter 'Oh Bells. You're going to pull through this, you hear me?' I hoped he was right.

My family had trickled back in shortly after mine and Charlie's conversation had ended and the 5 of us held vigil over Bella as we all waited for her to wake up. It wasn't until another 2 hours passed that Alice thought to me; _She will wake up soon._

'How will she be?' I asked so quietly Charlie couldn't hear.

She shook her head almost imperceptibly looking sad and showed me Bella waking up and panicking, trying weakly to rip the breathing tube out. I closed my eyes at what was coming.

About 20 minutes later I began to notice almost imperceptible changes; it started with slight eye movements under her eyelids then progressed to a slight furrowing of her eyebrows. I rubbed the back of her hand with my thumb trying to ease her back into consciousness. The furrowing of her eyebrows increased at the same time that the hand I was holding started to twitch.

'It's ok Bella, you're ok.' I murmured softly which broke through everyone's quiet reverie; they all focused their attention on her.

'Bells?' Charlie asked quietly, scooting closer to her bed.

The twitching in her hand increased and she shook her head slightly. 'Ring for the nurse Edward.' Carlisle told me as he walked around to look into her face.

I rang the call bell as Carlisle flashed his penlight into first one then the other eye, I saw from his mind that her pupils did react, although slower and not as drastically as both him and I would have hoped. I decided to focus on Bella and leave the matter of her eyesight to another time.

Her nurse walked in and Carlisle informed her that Bella was waking up; she promptly left the room to go and find the doctor.

'C'mon Bella,' I said to her as she continued to stir 'you're ok love, you're safe.'

It was then that she suddenly woke up, tore her hand out of mine in reaching for the tube protruding from her mouth. Within a second I regained my composure and grabbed her hand before she could do any damage. I noticed Carlisle had to do the same thing with her right hand though to a lesser degree due to her broken shoulder. She was retching now, her body bucking trying to remove the intruding tube. Alarms were sounding on the respirator as she fought it.

'Bella! Bella, calm down love it's ok, just breathe.' I held her hand in my left hand and used my right to stroke her face. 'Bella listen, it's me, it's Edward. You're safe, I promise. You just need to calm down.' I was shocked by the sudden return of strength and life in my wife and while it was disturbing it was also encouraging.

Her eyes frantically searched for me, locking on to where she heard my voice, she didn't meet my eyes, I couldn't be sure whether she could or couldn't see me but it didn't seem likely. It was becoming obvious that this sudden burst of energy was rapidly dwindling. I could feel her getting weaker as her panicked eyes continued searching.

'Bella, I'm right here. I know you're scared but you're ok, just calm down. We're going to get your breathing tube removed; we're waiting for the doctor. Relax, that's right, you've got it.' I said as she laid her head back and closed her eyes, I might've thought she was asleep if it wasn't for her racing heart and the death grip she held on my hand.

'Good sweetheart, that's it. You're doing amazing.' I encouraged her as the doctor walked in and came right over to Bella.

'Bella?' he asked her and her eyes opened searching for him. 'My name is Dr. Acosta,' he spoke in English with his thick Brazilian accent, I hoped that she could understand him with her injured brain 'I'm going to decrease the respirator and we will see how you handle it. If your oxygen levels remain stable then I will turn it off, if you are able to breathe and your levels remain high then I can remove the tube, ok?' he finished explaining. She tried to give him a nod but it was almost imperceptible with the tube in her throat and the brace on her neck.

The doctor then moved to the respirator and pressed the appropriate buttons and the hiss of the air I expected to hear didn't come- it wouldn't engage unless she tried to breathe in first. At first she panicked squeezing my hand again unable to pull in the oxygen she needed.

'You can do it Bella, breathe in- come on. You've got this.' I tried to encourage her, rubbing her arm and speaking softly to her.

She took a moment to steady herself then took a big inhale- the hiss of the respirator kicking in and assisting with her inhale. The doctor monitored her oxygen levels and heart rate over the next five minutes as Bella struggled to breathe with the tube in her throat. After the allotted amount of time he deemed that she was maintaining good enough oxygen levels to turn the respirator off completely.

'Ok Bella, you're doing great. I'm going to disconnect the respirator now and see how you do. Don't worry if you're in any distress I will reconnect you.' Dr. Acosta told her. Her eyes were closed but I knew she was listening, exhausted but listening.

At this he grasped the tube coming from her throat and twisted the connection between the respirator and tubing, disconnecting them leaving just the last 6 inches of tubing protruding from her throat for her to breathe through. This time she was ready for it and as soon as it was disconnected she took a huge shuddering breath. The grip of her hand in mine remained strong, and her heart rate remained high; the stress of the situation not marring her face but showing in the wild racing of her heart.

Again multiple minutes passed with the doctor monitoring her progress. Her oxygen levels remained around 92% after 5 minutes of her breathing on her own, he was pleased with this development- I would have preferred it be back at 100%, but if he was happy then so was I. Carlisle also thought that Bella was doing extremely well, better than he thought she would be.

'Amazing Bella, one step left. I'm going to remove the tube now ok? I need you to cough for me when I say.' He said as he grasped the tube, disconnecting the elastic that held it to her face. 'Ok Bella, cough now.' And she did. He began extricating the tube as she coughed and retched and thankfully he removed the offending rube rapidly. As Bella continued to cough and gag a nurse appeared with an oxygen mask and placed it over her face.

It seemed an eternity but eventually Bella's breathing returned to a slow rhythm, a little raspier than I liked but I assumed that was because of her ruined throat. I wiped the tears away from her face that had sprung from her eyes during this ordeal and murmured encouragements to her. She tried to speak but all that came out was a rough croak followed by a coughing fit.

'No talking yet Bella.' Dr. Acosta said as he pulled his stethoscope from around his neck, put it into his ears and put the diaphragm to her chest. 'I'm going to have a listen to your lungs now; I need to try to take a big breath for me.' I watched as she tried to do what he asked, repeating the procedure every time he lifted up the circular piece of metal and replaced in a different location on her body.

To my ears I thought I heard a slight rattle every time she inhaled deeper, and by the looks on Carlisle's and Dr. Acosta's faces I knew they heard it too. The doctor then wheeled over a vital signs machine and placed a pulse oximeter onto her finger. After a few seconds the number 84 popped up on the screen and he frowned. He leaned over to the wall above her head adjusting the flow of oxygen to allow for more oxygen to come out, he adjusted it from a 1 to a 3.

'Deep breaths, Bella.' The doctor said to her. Her eyes were closed at this point but she was obviously straining to take deeper breaths, the only sign of discomfort was the tight grip she held on my hand and her drawn eyebrows. I rubbed circles on the back of her hand with my thumb.

'That's it Bella, you're doing amazing.' I told her as the number steadily rose to 94% oxygen saturation. The only sign that she showed that she had heard me was the slight increase in pressure in my hand as she squeezed it.

'We will be closely monitoring her over the next 24 hours. If she starts to struggle we will have to put the breathing tube back in. I'm hopefully she will remain stable and not need assistance; she definitely has the beginnings of pneumonia. I think with the antibiotics she's already on plus some breathing treatments we will start today will clear it up in no time.' Dr. Acosta told us. 'Be sure to ring the bell if she becomes distressed at all. And I will be back in tomorrow morning.' I nodded my head and thanked the doctor as he made his way to the door.

I stood then getting close to Bella's face and kissing her gently on her unbruised cheek. Her eyes opened, searching for me, chest heaving with the effort of getting enough oxygen. 'I'm right here sweetheart.' I reassured her. 'You're safe, I promise.'

'So… dark…' she whispered, only managing one word per breath. 'Can't… see…' I felt my chest constrict at her words, my worst fears confirmed.

'Shh sweetheart, I know. It will get better, I promise. You need to rest, ok? We're all here for you; Carlisle, Esme, Alice and Charlie all came to see you.' I said to her.

'Dad?' she whispered loud enough for Charlie to hear her.

'Yeah Bells, I'm here.' Charlie said moving up to her other side and lightly grasping her right hand. 'Try not to talk too much sweetheart, concentrate on breathing.'

Her eyelids were starting to droop as she tried to nod 'Go to sleep sweetheart.' I told her 'We'll be here when you wake.' Her head moved infinitesimally as she tried to nod again, eyes closing.

Her breathing evened out pretty quickly after this, showing that she had fallen asleep. She was clearly very easily exhausted, being awake for a few minutes was more than her body could take. We monitored her oxygen, I was worried about her oxygen falling in sleep and it did- but only a small amount. With the oxygen pumping in through the mask her oxygen saturation remained steady through the night.


	6. Chapter 6

Bella POV

Waking was hard, like swimming through miles of Jell-o trying desperately to reach the surface. It took a long time, and the closer I got to the surface the more painful it became. I was aware of pains everywhere on my body and I couldn't remember for the life of me how they got there. I tried to open my eyes but barely managed to move my eyelid.

I felt a light cool pressure on the back of my hand, this one was soothing somehow, and then I could've sworn I heard a soft voiced speaking though I couldn't be sure. This continued for several minutes getting closer and closer to the surface, I was hearing more people speaking but I couldn't make out the words. Then one feeling overtook everything else, I was suffocating, something was down my throat cutting off my airway and I woke all at once.

I pulled my arms up and to try to rip it out but before my fingers were even able to feel what it was something cool and gentle had taken my hands stopping me. I was panicking now; body retching trying to dislodge whatever was down my throat when I heard the only thing that could calm me down.

'Bella! Bella, calm down love it's ok, just breathe.' I felt something cool stroke my face and I tried to listen. 'Bella listen, it's me, it's Edward. You're safe, I promise. You just need to calm down.'

I opened my eyes then, not realizing they hadn't been open yet and searched for him. The room was frustratingly dark; I couldn't understand why they wouldn't turn on the lights. My eyes settled on what I thought must be Edward; all I could see was a blurry slightly darker shape in the direction that his voice was coming from. The fight was draining from me quickly- as fast as the energy had poured into me it was draining just as fast.

'Bella, I'm right here. I know you're scared but you're ok, just calm down. We're going to get your breathing tube removed; we're waiting for the doctor. Relax, that's right, you've got it.' Edward said to me quickly as I felt the fingers of the hand he wasn't using to hold my hand, stroke my cheek. _Breathing tube._ The words sunk in slowly, it wasn't until then that I heard the periodic hissing and noted that it coincided with the forced rise and fall of my chest.

I wasn't breathing on my own, I realized then. I had been trying to lift my head while searching for Edward (a tough feat with a neck brace) but at these words I laid back exhausted. I closed my eyes and tried to get a handle on my anxiety, _Relax Bella, it's just a breathing tube._ I told myself.

'Good sweetheart, that's it. You're doing amazing.' Edward encouraged and shortly after an unfamiliar voice spoke. I tried to concentrate but it was so hard, I could feel myself being pulled back under. I gathered that he was a doctor and he was here to remove my breathing tube, my anxiety increased, heart thumping- Edward squeezed my hand to reassure me.

I tuned back in to realize he was telling me what he was going to do; I had trouble following his instructions. I tried to manage a nod when I realized a response was required but I didn't think my head moved at all with the brace on. It was clear that I wasn't paying attention when the expected force of air into my lungs didn't come I panicked squeezing my hands tightly.

'You can do it Bella, breathe in- come on. You've got this.' Edward's strained voice told me from right next to my ear. I forced myself to relax and then attempted to pull air in in my lungs, as I inhaled the machine kicked in and assisted me to get more air into my lungs. It took me a couple of inhales to get the hang of it which allowed me to loosen my death grip on the hands I was holding. I knew the one in my left hand was Edward but I didn't know who was on my right but judging by the coolness and how hard it was I figured it was a vampire.

It wasn't super easy to breathe but I had settled into a rhythm after a few minutes, I couldn't believe how _exhausting_ breathing was. I was laid back with my eyes closed putting all of my concentration and energy into pulling air into my lungs when the doctor spoke again.

'Ok Bella, you're doing great. I'm going to disconnect the respirator now and see how you do. Don't worry if you're in any distress I will reconnect you.' I made sure to pay attention to him as he spoke this time so I wouldn't be taken by surprise again. My anxiety rose again and Edward and Carlisle? I guessed by the size of the hand squeezed back reassuringly.

I felt jostling as the doctor made to disconnect the tube, with no more warning I felt the weight of the respirator disconnect from the tube sticking out of my throat and I inhaled. My first breath in I didn't draw in enough oxygen, not anticipating how much the respirator had actually been doing. I tried again and forced a bigger inhale and while it was exhausting I realized it was possible.

Again many minutes went by before the doctor spoke again. 'Amazing Bella, one step left. I'm going to remove the tube now ok? I need you to cough for me when I say.' I felt more jostling on the tube protruding from my mouth. 'Ok Bella, cough now.' He said and I attempted a cough which was quickly followed by gagging caused by the feeling of the tube moving painfully upwards exiting my throat. I continued to gag as it left my mouth and I felt a mask being placed over my face- I quickly realized it was oxygen as I felt the cool air on my face.

I tried to inhale, it took me a while to stop gagging and coughing but eventually I managed to pull a painful ragged breath in past my damaged throat. I managed to ease my breathing and it rasped in and out, I didn't realize I was crying until I felt Edward's finger brush the tears from my face. I tried to speak to thank him for so much but all I managed was a painful croak which devolved into a coughing fit.

'No talking yet Bella.' I recognized the doctors heavily accented voice. 'I'm going to have a listen to your lungs now; I need you to try to take a big breath for me.' I felt something cold touch my skin and I realized it was a stethoscope. I took as deep of an inhale as I could, I repeated it every time I felt the stethoscope repositioned on my body. I felt very short of breath, I was worried that I wasn't getting enough oxygen and that they would have to put the tube back in.

I felt the cool air on my face blow harder than it had been with an audible hiss. 'Deep breaths, Bella.' The doctor told me. I concentrated on the slow in and out of my breathing, trying to ignore the pain in my throat and chest. I didn't realize I was still squeezing Edward and Carlisle's hands with all my might until Edward started rubbing circles on the back of my hand with his thumb. I tried to relax a bit as breathing got easier.

'That's it Bella, you're doing amazing.' Edward told me and I squeezed his hand to show him I heard him.

I tuned out as I heard the doctor speaking to Edward and whoever else was in the room, I sensed he had left when I felt a cold kiss on my left cheek. I opened my eyes again searching for Edward. 'I'm right here sweetheart. You're safe, I promise.' He told me as my eyes settled on his dark form.

'So… dark…' I managed to whisper in two breaths 'Can't… see…' I tried to communicate with him and I felt him stiffen at my words.

'Shh sweetheart, I know. It will get better, I promise. You need to rest, ok? We're all here for you; Carlisle, Esme, Alice and Charlie all came to see you.' Edward said to me and the words were strange, that many people were here? Where were we? Still in Brazil or back in Forks? My guess from the doctor with the Brazilian accent was that we were still in Brazil. But that meant Charlie was in Brazil? The thought didn't make sense to me.

'Dad?' I whispered louder in disbelief.

'Yeah Bells, I'm here.' I heard him say as the cold hand in my right hand vanished to be replaced by a much warmer one. 'Try not to talk too much sweetheart, concentrate on breathing.' It was once I felt the warm comforting grip of Charlie's hand in mine that I felt the last of my strength ebb.

'Go to sleep sweetheart.' Edward told me from my other side. 'We'll be here when you wake.'

I tried to nod again failing and let the darkness take me surrounded by the two men I loved the most in the world.

I awoke some time later; I couldn't be sure how long it was since everything was still so dark when I opened my eyes. I felt a cool hand rubbing circles on my left hand. I noticed that my right arm was now securely held against my chest by what I assumed was a sling. The right side of my face felt hot and swollen and I could feel the annoying constraints of the neck brace preventing me from turning my head to look at whoever was at my side.

'How are you feeling?' I heard Edward ask quietly as he gripped my left hand.

I tried to open my mouth to respond but all that I managed was a croak, my mouth barely opening from how dry it was.

'Here.' I heard Edward say as something pressed to my lips, I opened my mouth and felt a plastic straw enter my mouth and I drank deeply from it- too deeply. I immediately began to choke on the water and coughed all of the water up that I had just drunk all over me. I heard Edward mutter a swear and then I felt the head of the bed begin to lift.

'Breathe Bella.' He told me softly, helping me to lean forward and rubbing my back gently as my coughing stopped and my ragged breathing started to settle.

'Better?' he asked me.

'Yes.' I whispered 'Thank you.'

'Do you want to try again?' Edward asked me hesitantly.

I gave a tiny nod in response; it was as much as I could manage with the neck brace.

'Slowly Bella.' He murmured as I felt the straw touch my lips again. 'Take little sips.'

I complied and took a small sip of water and swallowed it before taking another sip. I drank until I was satisfied and then I leaned back into the bed that was mostly upright, this very small amount of activity had exhausted me but I was determined to stay awake.

'Better?' he asked me.

'Yes.' I said, a little more than a whisper now, talking was still hard with my ruined throat.

'Edward…' I began, afraid of the answers I was seeking. 'It's so dark... is it my eyes?' I looked in the direction that he was sitting. He was quiet for a minute.

'Your brain, actually.' He nearly whispered clenching my one hand in two of his, the pain evident in his voice. 'You hit the back of your head so hard it bruised the part of your brain responsible for processing information from your eyes. Your eyes are fine.'

'Is it permanent?' I asked him quietly after a moment.

'We don't know love, we're hoping it will improve as the swelling in your brain decreases. Carlisle is very hopeful.' He tried to reassure me, I could tell he was worried though.

I processed this for a minute before I spoke 'So aside from the blindness, what's the damage.' He stroked my face with one of his hands before he spoke.

'You have a few fractures in the vertebrae in your neck, multiple skull fractures, broken shoulder, ribs, penetrating chest wound, impaled thigh and there is barely any part of you not covered by a cut or a bruise.' His voice was full of pain as he spoke, I knew that voice- it was self-loathing.

'Is that all?' I asked quietly and he huffed a laugh. 'How are you doing?' I asked him.

He was silent for too long, not being able to see him was making me very uneasy. I reached my left arm out trying to find his face. My weak arm shook slightly at the effort and he took my hand and pressed it to his cheek.

'I…' his voice failed him and he was silent again for a few moments. 'I have been better. I'm so sorry Bella.'

I shook my head as much as I could with the brace on but he spoke before I could. 'I shouldn't have gone; if I had stayed then you wouldn't be here- you'd be safe.'

'It was a natural disaster Edward- you couldn't know it was going to happen. This is the stupidest thing to beat yourself up about.' I had so much more to say but my voice was failing me and I was exhausted. I leaned back into the bed, my arm falling from Edward's face. He took my hand and held it tightly again.

'I know you're right' he said quietly 'but it's still hard knowing that if I hadn't left when I did you would be fine.'

'Edward' my voice was nearly a whisper again 'you saved my life. Please don't be so hard on yourself.'

'Ok Bella,' he said 'I'm sorry.' He was clearly placating me but I knew it was the best I was going to get.

I leaned back closing my eyes. 'Are you in pain?' he asked me delicately.

'No.' I whispered, it was the truth I didn't feel any pain. Whatever medication they had me on was doing the job. 'Just tired.' I admitted.

'You can go to sleep if you want.' Edward said.

'I don't want to.' I told him. 'Tell me what's been going on since I've been out. How did we get off the island?'

'Alice saw us of course and Carlisle got in contact with a rescue organization here in Brazil and they sent a helicopter to us. They then brought us inland to this hospital; it's away from the devastation caused by the earthquake and tsunami. You were brought into surgery where they opened the back of your skull to relieve the pressure on your brain.

'They also fixed your sucking chest wound, leg and shoulder. Shortly after you got out of surgery Carlisle, Esme and Alice all showed up and shortly after that Charlie got here too. The piece of skull was also put back once the swelling in your brain went down. Once you woke up they removed the breathing tube and your breathing has been improving since. We're keeping oxygen on you though until your lungs are functioning normally.'

I hadn't noticed the hiss of hair entering my nostrils until Edward had mentioned the oxygen.

'What time is it? Where is everyone?' I asked him.

'It's just after 4am. Carlisle, Esme and Alice are out hunting and Charlie is back at his hotel asleep.' He told me.

'I can't believe Charlie flew to Brazil.' I said in surprise.

'It was… you nearly died Bella.' Edward said choked up with emotion. It was my turn to rub circles in the back of his hand.

'I'm sorry.' I whispered. 'But I didn't, I'm alive.' He gently squeezed my hand and we were silent for a few minutes before I broke the silence again.

'When can we go home?' I asked him.

'I really don't know, hopefully soon. We have to be absolutely sure that you are stable enough to make it back home.' He told me. 'In the morning the doctor will be back to undo your head dressing and look at your incisions to see how they are looking.'

I cringed internally at a sudden thought 'Did they have to shave my head?' I asked him.

'I haven't seen yet, your head has been wrapped since we got here, I imagine that they at least had to shave the back of your head but I don't know beyond that. It's ok love; even if you were bald you would still be beautiful.' He tacked that end part on at my panicked expression.

I gave him a small laugh 'Thanks Edward.' I felt him move next to me and a second later felt his cold lips gently press against my uninjured cheek. I sighed and closed my eyes at this, wishing I could return the kiss.


	7. Chapter 7

_I hope you enjoy the last chapter! Thanks for sticking it out with me!_

I must have drifted off again because the next thing I knew I was waking to the sound of voices.

'-as long as the incision looks good we can leave off the head wrapping.' I heard a heavily accented voice say. _The doctor?_ I thought to myself.

'Bella?' I heard a soft feminine voice ask.

'Alice?' I asked and I felt her small hand grip my left ankle.

'Hello Bella.' The accented voice spoke again, my eyes were open again but all I saw were shadows around me, I focussed on the one I thought the voice was coming from. 'I don't know if you remember me but my name is Dr. Acosta, I'm your doctor here in the hospital. I understand you're having trouble seeing, I'm going to check your eyes, ok?' he asked me.

'Sure.' I croaked, mouth dry again. I felt the straw touch my lips and Edward gently reminded me 'Slowly Bella.' I heeded his warning and drank slowly, when I was done I felt the doctors warm hand touch the tender right side of my face pulling up my swollen eyelid and then flashed a light in my right eye. I flinched at the bright flash, it was almost painful.

'Good Bella, let me look at the other one now.' Dr. Acosta said and the flash of light happened again in my left eye. 'Pupils are responsive but slow, the eyes themselves seem healthy. The only thing to do for her eyesight is to wait for the brain to heal, there's no way to tell how much of her eyesight she will regain.' He said.

'Ok Bella, I'm going to take the dressing off of your head and inspect and clean the incision.' I felt the head of the bed lifting up and I tried to lean forward a bit for the doctor, but unlike the last time I woke up I was in pain and my ribs protested angrily as I tried to use my core muscles and put weight on them.

I gasped lightly and Edward was there immediately holding me up in the position I had tried to get myself into. I then felt the doctor peeling away the bandages that my head had been encased in; as the bandages came away I was relieved to feel my hair fall around me and into my face. I winced as he peeled the gauze from the wound itself and the incision pulled from the dried blood sticking to the gauze.

I sensed that a nurse was there with the doctor assisting him, she must've handed him something to clean the incision because I felt something cold and wet press against what felt like a sizeable wound on the back of my head. I jumped at the change in temperature and winced at the pain as he cleaned the back of my head.

'It looks great Bella, no signs of infection, its healing well.' Dr. Acosta reported when it seemed like he had completed his inspection. Edward leaned me back and started what was probably the huge undertaking of fixing my hair. I closed my eyes as Carlisle and Dr. Acosta spoke to each other and I assumed it was Alice that came to my other side to help Edward.

It was then that I heard Edward speaking to someone in Portuguese and a woman's voice responded, I opened my eyes then reflexively before remembering that it wouldn't help me figure out what was going on. Thankfully Alice must have seen the question on my face.

'He asked the nurse to bring us a basin to wash your hair in.' she told me quietly.

'Thanks Alice.' I said to her, appreciating the gesture more than I could say, she stroked my face in response. 'How much hair is left?' I asked dreading the answer.

'Most of it actually.' She reassured me. 'They only shaved a section in the back where they had to do the surgery. What is here is a mess though Bella, I'm going to be working on this for hours.' She said and I sensed she was glad for something to do to help me.

A short time later I heard the sloshing of water as what I assumed was the basin come to the bedside. I felt Edward move but he didn't release my hand, I just felt him shift so he was sitting farther down the bed by my legs.

'Sweetheart,' I heard Esme speak from where Edward had been sitting. 'Is it ok if I put your hair in the water basin? Alice and I are going to wash it for you.'

'Of course,' I whispered 'thank you Esme.' At this she gave me a kiss on the forehead and then someone lifted me by the shoulders and slid a pillow under my shoulders and laid my head into a container of warm water. I tensed for a moment at the stinging pain of the water on the wound on my head but quickly relaxed as the pain eased.

Alice and Esme spent the next 20 minutes methodically washing, rinsing and conditioning my hair needing to change the water twice in the process. I assumed my hair was probably full of blood, dirt and whatever else the ocean had put in my hair. When they were done I was exhausted and I was in a lot of pain in my neck, shoulder and chest from the strained position I had been in.

Esme and Alice then proceeded to brush out my hair, never pulling once which showed how much care they were using, it must have been a tangled mess. I must have drifted to sleep again sometime in the process, when I woke again I noticed that the hand in mine was warm, a huge difference to the constant cold hands that had been comforting me and I opened my eyes.

'Bells?' I heard Charlie's gruff voice ask as I stirred.

'Charlie?' I asked to the darkness.

'Yeah Bells, it's me. How are you feeling?' he asked squeezing my hand.

'I'm ok.' I whispered 'I just want to go home.'

'I know Bella, hopefully soon. You're improving so quickly. You're doing amazingly well.' Charlie told me.

'Thanks Dad, and thanks for coming. I'm sorry I worried you.'

'That went beyond worry Bella… I thought I had lost you…' he cut off, choked by emotion.

'I'm really sorry Dad.' I whispered, upset that I had worried him so much.

'Don't be Bella; it's not your fault. You're alive, everything else we can deal with.' He said pulling himself back together.

'And if I don't get my eyesight back?' I said so quietly I didn't know that he would hear it. I felt his warm rough hand caress the uninjured side of my face.

'You will Bella. And if you don't we'll figure it out. You've got a pretty amazing husband who you know will stand by you through everything. And me Bells, I'll always be here for whatever you need.' He spoke to me more gently than he ever had in living memory; it was so touching tears washed up in my eyes, spilling over where he wiped them with his fingers.

'Thanks Dad.' I whispered. 'I love you so much.'

'Love you too Bells.' He said and a sudden thought occurred to me.

'Does Mom know?' I asked him and he went stiff.

'I had to tell her Bella,' he said and I groaned closing my eyes. 'she's your mom, she deserves to know what's going on with you.'

'I know, I know. I'm sure she's freaking out.' I said.

'With reason Bells, we all were. Anyway she can't afford a ticket to get here but I'm sure she will be waiting for you when you arrive in Forks. I had to talk her out of putting herself in debt to get here.' I appreciated that Charlie was still looking out for Renee since I couldn't be.

'Thanks for talking reason into her Dad.' I said.

Shortly after this I drifted off again waking up what I assumed wasn't too long later to more voices, this time it was physiotherapy there to get me up and moving. As exhausted and in pain as I was I was glad for it. I started with sitting on the edge of the bed and when that went well they had me stand up. I was apparently able to put as much weight as I could through my injured leg. Up until now I hadn't felt much if any pain in my leg but now it was making itself known.

I gripped onto the therapists hand as I stood and was immediately sweating and shaking from the pain but I was determined. We managed to make a semi-circle around the room before I made it into a recliner chair next to my bed. I was exhausted and in pain but I felt better knowing that although it wasn't far I was still able to walk.

A few days later Charlie had to leave, Forks PD was missing their chief and so with a temporary goodbye, knowing we'd see each other soon, he left for the airport. As much as I loved having him here it was easier with him gone. The Cullen's didn't have to watch what they said nearly as much as they did with him around. They also didn't have to keep up a human charade which meant Edward didn't have to leave to pretend to sleep- this was just fine with me.

Over the next two weeks I began to drastically improve, as long as I had pain medicine in me and someone to hold my good hand I was walking farther and farther. Walking without eyesight was terrifying, it was by far worse than the pain and weakness I had in my legs and body. I could push through that- the fear of walking without seeing was paralyzing at first.

With Edward's gentle ministrations and reassurances I was able to walk further and further and while it was still uncomfortable walking without sight it wasn't the terrifying experience it once was. I was also completely off oxygen now, getting up and walking and not lying in bed all day did wonders for my breathing.

Another thing that improved although just slightly was my eyesight. In the beginning everything was dark, people and bigger objects were distinguishable as darker blobs. I was starting to see light and objects and people were getting more definition, I was able to tell the four Cullen's apart by sight now, mostly by the way they moved.

Three weeks to the day that I was admitted to the hospital they agreed that I was stable enough to be transported to Forks because I was under the watchful eye of Dr. Carlisle Cullen. The only decision left to make was how I would get from Seattle to Forks, I argued against a helicopter- that was a needless expense at this point. Edward was trying to convince me and Carlisle that I needed an ambulance to travel the last couple hours to town.

I managed to convince him that since we agreed that I wouldn't be going to the hospital- I'd be going to the Cullen's home that an ambulance wasn't necessary. Instead we arranged for Emmett and Jasper to drive separately to come and get us from the airport. Carlisle, Esme, Edward and I would take one car and Emmett, Jasper and Alice would go in the other car.

Carlisle had arranged for a private plane to take us home, usually I would refuse such an unnecessarily large amount of money spent on something but I couldn't imagine flying in a regular plane in the condition I was still in.

To get from the hospital to the airport though was a different story; they would only let me leave in an ambulance. Dr. Acosta had given Carlisle all of the medicine I may need for the 20 or so hours we would be traveling. So it was around 10am that I found myself sitting down in a transport chair being brought down to the ambulance bay.

They got me up and then had me take a few steps and turn to sit on what I knew was a stretcher thanks to Edward's constant stream of telling me what is going on around me, he did an amazing job of trying to make up for my lack of sight. It made everything way easier.

Traveling from the hospital to the airport was miserable. Laying down on the stretcher as we bounced down the road hitting potholes and bumps constantly was incredibly painful and I nearly cried with relief by the time we got to the airport. I was allowed to finally get up off of the stretcher and I hobbled a few feet to get into a wheelchair.

Edward crouched in front of me and put his hands on my knees, I leaned over so my forehead pressed against his.

'Are you ok?' Edward asked, worried about me.

'Yeah.' I whispered, lying.

'Do you need something for the pain?' he asked me, worried.

'Not yet, let me get on the plane first. I want a clear head.' I told him and he nodded, kissing me on the forehead and then moving behind me to push the chair.

The plane was sitting there waiting for us so we spent almost no time in the airport. The last barrier I faced was getting into the plane. Because it was a smaller private plane the only way to board it was to go out on the runway and climb what Edward said was 20 stairs to get into the plane.

Edward wheeled me to the bottom of the staircase and crouched in front of me again.

'I can carry you up if you like.' He said to me reading the look on my face.

'No,' I shook my head. 'I want to do it, will you help me?'

'Of course.' He told me and he helped me to my feet.

Putting my left hand on the railing I lifted my left leg up onto the next step followed by my right foot. Edward held most of my weight with his hands on my waist and even with him doing most of the work by the time I got to the top I was exhausted and he had to half carry me into my chair. While Edward buckled me in, Carlisle was ready with some pain medicine that I gladly accepted. I was overdue and with the amount I had moved I was in a lot of pain.

Edward sat next to me as I swallowed the pills Carlisle had offered me and I felt him doing up his own seatbelt.

'We're going to sit in the seats for takeoff and once we are in the air there is a bed in the back for you to sleep in.' Edward told me.

'Really?' I asked surprised and immensely grateful.

'We weren't going to make you fly for 16 hours without somewhere for you to sleep Bella.' He said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. I didn't answer him I just leaned my good side into him and closed my eyes waiting to take off.

It wasn't long until we were taxiing down the runway, my lack of sight was proving to be a source of anxiety again and I grabbed Edward's hand. When the plane's engine picked up in volume and the plane started to rocket down the runway my anxiety got worse, Edward could hear my elevated heartrate and my shallow breathing and he rubbed my arm and spoke to me softly but loud enough so I could hear him over the roar of the engines.

I didn't relax until the plane had stopped climbing and had leveled out, it also helped that the pills Carlisle had given me had started to kick in.

'Do you want to go to the bed?' Edward asked me.

'Yes please.' I nodded drowsily.

'Do you want me to carry you?' He asked again, reading how drowsy I had become.

I just shook my head again and felt along the seatbelt searching for the button but he reached it first unbuckling it and then helped me stand. Luckily he was holding me because I wavered once I was on my feet, I was experiencing some awful vertigo, I knew I was high in the air but I couldn't see this so it was messing with my brain.

Edward held my hand and steadied me, half carrying me to the back where he lead me to the right side of the bed and helped me to sit down. He then took off my shoes and helped me swing my right leg into the bed and tucked the blankets around me. He then climbed into the other side of the bed and pulled me close to him. I cuddled into him as much as I could with my neck brace and shoulder sling. I was beyond annoyed by the neck brace; the sling was annoying but didn't bother me nearly as much as the inability to move my head. I sighed in annoyance.

'Are you in pain?' Edward asked me, concern colouring his voice.

'No.' I sighed 'Just sick to death of this neck brace, I can't wait to take it off.'

He kissed me on the forehead, 'Soon my love.' He murmured and began to hum my lullaby and I drifted off to sleep.

The 15 and a half hour flight passed by much quicker than I could have imagined thanks to the drugs Carlisle had given to me before takeoff. I was awake for 5 hours in the middle of the flight then slept the final 5 hours. I woke to being lifted and carried down the stairs to the tarmac; Edward settled me in a waiting wheelchair and brought us inside to go through customs.

We got through customs fairly easily; I was unsure what time of day it was and didn't feel like expending the energy to ask. I was grateful when Edward told me we were walking up to Emmett and Jasper, this meant we were almost home.

Emmett was much more subdued than usual; clearly he had been spoken to and was aware of my situation. As I stood up to get into Carlisle's black Mercedes Emmett pulled me into a gentle hug, something I hadn't experienced before from him.

'I'm glad you're ok Bella, none of us could have stood it if you didn't make it.' Emmett said, uncharacteristically sweet.

'Thanks Emmett.' I said, uncomfortable but quickly feeling a rush of calm flood through me and I smiled.

'Thanks Jasper.' I said smiling, not knowing where to look.

'It's good to see you Bella.' He said from my left, I thought I saw Alice right next to him.

'You too Jasper, I'm sorry I kept her from you for so long.' I said feeling guilty.

'Don't be, you needed each other more than we did these past few weeks.' He said and I smiled. Edward helped me in the back right seat and then climbed in beside me. Carlisle got into the driver's seat and Esme into the passenger side. I stayed buckled in but Edward slid over and put his arm around me and I leaned into him relaxing.

I found that I got car sick now without the ability to see where we were going, it was something that I had never had happen to me before. I curled into Edward the whole drive home keeping my eyes shut trying to keep the nausea at bay. Edward rubbed my back soothingly trying to soothe my stomach.

The 1.5 hour ride to Forks almost felt longer than the 15.5 hour flight because of the constant nausea and the pain creeping back in. When we did arrive back in Forks Edward didn't even ask me he just picked me up from the car and carried me up to his room, or I guess _our_ room now.

'Wait.' I said as he went to sit me on the bed. 'I don't want to go in the bed until I'm clean. Will you help me take a bath?'

'Of course.' He said but hesitated. 'Are you up to it?' and I nodded.

He carried me into the adjoining bathroom and sat me on the toilet seat while he got the bath running. I was now allowed to get all of my incisions wet thankfully; this would be my first bath in almost a month. I was so tired; I had my left hand bracing my weight against the wall as Edward turned back to me.

'Are you sure you're up to this, we can do it in the morning.' I shook my head at his question.

'I just want to get clean, I feel disgusting.' I said exhaustion clear on my face and in my body language. 'I'm sure you won't let me drown.' I said and he huffed a laugh.

'I'm going to take your sling off.' He warned me before he undid the clasps in the back and I felt the support disappear from my arm and I felt his cool hand there to replace it. While continuing to hold my arm up he took off the shirt I was wearing, I was actually completely oblivious to what clothes I had been wearing lately. He then helped me to stand and took off my pants and underwear and helped me into the bath.

'How do I look?' I asked him as I stepped into the hot bath.

'Beautiful.' He responded automatically and I laughed as I sat down in the water and hissed as it burned some of my cuts.

'I mean my injuries, Edward.' I said.

'Much better.' He told me. 'Your bruises are mostly faded, the worst if which are shades of light purple and yellow. Most of your minor cuts have healed, your incisions look great. The swelling in your face is finally gone too.' he said gently stroking the right side of my face.

'My hair?' I asked quietly.

'When its down you can't tell at all, but even looking at it it's hard to tell, the hair is all growing back in well.' He said as he gently felt the short hair at the back of my head and I yawned.

'Let's get you clean and out of this bath before you fall asleep.' He said as he started to help me get clean, I wasn't much help, he mostly got me to hold my arm while he worked and even so by the end I was exhausted, I could barely keep my eyes open.

He lifted me from the bath and dried me off, drying as my neck as best as he could without taking off the brace. He then helped me to dress in a clean pair of pajamas then slid my arm back into the sling and wrapped a towel around my hair and carried me into the bed.

I was warm, clean and comfortable finally back in my home with my husband. My mother would be on her way to Forks the next day and Charlie would visit as often as I wanted. Then there was my new family, the Cullen's all loved me almost as much as Edward. I knew that they would be here to love me and keep me safe until I finally decided to join them in immortality.

While I knew I still had obstacles to face I was certain I could face them with my family by my side. With Edward by my side.

The End.

 _Thanks for reading! I'm on the fence about doing a follow up bonus chapter maybe a few months in the future. Let me know if you'd be interested!_


	8. Bonus Chapter

_AN: I'm so sorry for the delay! I wasn't entirely sure that I was going to do a follow up chapter so I went back and read everybody's reviews from the story and I knew I had to. Thank you guys so much for your incredibly kind words, they meant the world to me and it's because of you that I decided to round this story out. This story is done now but I'm starting to flesh out another story that I think you'll like if you like this one so keep an eye out for that! Without further ado…_

 ** _Three Months Later_**

I awoke to a cool November breeze blowing through my open bedroom window after a restless night of nightmares and little sleep. I knew immediately that I was alone, Edward welcomed me to wakefulness every morning with a kiss as I started to rouse, today I was greeted by the silence and stillness of this chilly fall morning. Once I realised this it became obvious. Of course I had nightmares, _because_ I was alone. I sighed and pushed myself into a sitting position and felt the chorus of aches and pains that I usually experienced when I got up in the morning.

Most of my injuries from that fateful day in August were mostly healed, my skin was closed, muscles knit back together and fractured bones made whole again. While the once fresh wounds were now pink scars, some of the pain remained in the form of deep aches where my wounds once were. As bad as the wounds were they really had healed remarkably and I thanked Carlisle's wonderful care for that, along with the amazing surgeons in Brazil that saved my life.

My ribs had healed fully, I experienced some pain in them when I bent or twisted but otherwise they didn't pain me anymore, my neck was the same story- it had healed up from the fusion surgery perfectly and aside from it being a bit stiff and painful at times I really couldn't complain about it. My shoulder (while completely healed) hadn't fared as well as my ribs or neck. I was only able to reach my arm just above my shoulder and the higher I got the more painful it became. The strength in my right arm and hand had been compromised too, not terribly so but it made performing simple tasks difficult.

The musculoskeletal injury that pained me the most though was my right thigh. It had had a tree branch driven through one side then out the other and in its wake it had caused a lot of damage. The branch had severed muscles and nerves and chipped my femur and it still pained me to move it or to put weight through it. I was using a cane up until recently when I switched it out for a white cane instead when I realised that my sight was a bigger issue than my limp.

The worst injury of all was the brain injury I received to the back of my head when the rushing water had slammed me into a tree. The blow to the occipital portion of my head had initially blinded me when I woke up after the accident, I was only able to see light and dark and the shadows of my loved ones. This occurred because the occipital region of the brain includes the part of your brain that processes vision, so while my eyes weren't damaged I still couldn't see.

Thankfully my eyesight had evolved from that and while it really had greatly improved from the early days of basically no sight, it wasn't anywhere near close to where it was before the accident. In fact it was just barely functional. Describing my vision is hard. I've been diagnosed with Cortical Visual Impairment, or CVI. For me it affects the way I view the world, I generally can't make sense of what I'm looking at, things will look jumbled up and blurry. Some things are really hard for me to see like fine details such as print, written words and unfortunately faces.

Another thing that I have issues seeing are shadows, to me they look like physical objects. Being in cluttered rooms, especially ones that are unfamiliar to me is overwhelming; my brain will try to guess or 'fill in' objects that it isn't sure about. So I might think that what I see is a can of pop but when I approach it and hold it to my face I would see that it was actually an apple, or alternatively I might think that it's Alice approaching me but really it's Esme. Holding things close to my face was the best way for me to see things clearly. I had a kind of tunnel vision as well, while I still had peripheral vision the vision around the centre was more muddled and difficult to see out of.

I've been using a white cane the last few weeks since my vision has been good enough to utilize it properly. It's been especially helpful since I have almost zero depth perception and also for when I can't tell if there's an object in front of me or if it's a shadow. In the last month Edward and I had moved into a small cottage in the forest behind the Cullen's modern home. The Cullen's had fixed it up for Edward and I after the wedding but Edward wouldn't agree to move us there until I was more medically stable.

It had taken a month and a half for Carlisle to give us the ok and just over two weeks for Edward to feel that I was truly ready. In the month that we had lived here I had more or less managed to figure my way around. As long as nothing was changed in the cottage then I was able to find my way around pretty easily, after tripping and falling over a laundry basket that Alice had left out at the Cullen's Edwards whole family had been sure to keep the main house and the cottage free from clutter.

One thing that makes my vision worse is being tired, and after my restless night full of nightmares I felt like I hadn't slept at all. I was noticing that my vision was markedly worse than normal and so when I reached for my cane that had been leaning against the bedside table next to the bed and it wasn't there I didn't hold out much hope of finding it. I begrudgingly got out of bed and went down onto my knees, my right thigh groaning in protest and me groaning in unison.

I reached under the bed and groped around for it unable to locate where it had rolled to. Looking for it did no good, it was dark under the bed and all I saw was a blurred mess, with a sigh I gave up and pulled myself to my feet. I knew roughly where everything in the cabin was but I had definitely started to rely on the cane to make myself feel more confident in moving around. While it did indeed make me feel better and more secure I was incredibly self-conscious of it.

I had yet to venture out beyond the cottage or the Cullen's except to go to Charlie's a few times and even around him I felt self-conscious using my cane. As far as I was aware no one in town really knew what had happened to me so the thought of going out into town clearly visually impaired gripped me with anxiety. I didn't want the stares or the questions or the sympathy, it was all too much.

I reluctantly made my way to the set of drawers that kept my clothes and went to the drawer with the blue sticker on it. The way I perceived colours hadn't been affected and so Esme had come up with the genius idea to colour code everything we could, including most cupboards and drawers in the house. I reached the drawer after fumbling forwards with my hands unsure how close I was to it. When I opened it I put on the first shirt I found and then found the drawer with pants and pushed my legs into a pair of yoga pants.

I made my way to the kitchen next and grabbed a box then held it close to my face and determined that yes it was indeed cereal. I went to the fridge next and grabbed a paper carton assuming it was milk- that was until I opened it and the pungent smell of orange juice greeted me. _Oops_ I thought, we should get plastic cartons of orange juice next time. I replaced it and pulled out the actual milk carton this time and poured it in my cereal. Traversing the ten feet from the counter to the table without my cane scared me. I grabbed a spoon from the utensil drawer labeled with a yellow sticker and slowly started to make my way across the kitchen to the table.

I managed to cross the even floor without incident until my depth perception failed me again. I realised the chair that I thought was still more than a foot in front of me was suddenly far closer than I thought when I ran my bowl of cereal directly into the back of the chair knocking it from my hand and to the floor. I both heard and felt the bowl shatter as it hit the floor splashing me with shards of porcelain, bits of cereal and ice cold milk. I sighed as I dropped my head and rested my hands on the back of the chair eyes closed steeling myself against the thought of having to clean up such a mess without the ability to see it.

I knew that there were shards of porcelain scattered around and on my feet, I took a big step backwards to try and clear the mess and I managed not to step on any porcelain as I made my retreat. I cleaned off my feet and made my way to the bathroom to find the biggest towel I could. I brought it back to the kitchen to realise that the kitchen floor, bowl and milk were all a very similar colour of white. For what felt like the 100th time today I let out a big sigh, _I'm going plastic everything from now on, plastic bowls, plates, glasses- everything._

'Alright.' I spoke aloud. 'You can do it Bella, time to prove you aren't useless. You can take care of yourself.' I said hoping that if I said it out loud that I would be true.

I held the towel horizontally dragging it on the ground hoping to push any shards of porcelain towards the main spill. I managed not to step on any as I got close to where I thought most of the mess was and threw the towel on the ground. I stepped forward feeling for the towel and found it saturated, I had hit it at least. I started bunching the towel up again trying to clean up as much milk as I could and picking up as much porcelain as I could.

I was bundling up the towel when I felt a sharp searing pain in the palm of my left hand. 'Damnit.' I swore trying to see the wound but seeing only red. I decided to ignore it for the time being and carried the sopping bundle of milk, cereal and porcelain to the garbage to shake it out then I brought the towel to the laundry bin and threw it in. by now my hand was dripping with blood and I went back in the kitchen and got a hand towel, wrapping it around my palm and gripping it tightly.

I made my way towards the closet and groped around until I found a handle and pulled it from the cupboard realizing it was a mop. I set it aside for later and reached again this time finding the broom handle. I reached down and unhooked the dustpan setting it on the counter and started sweeping in a wide radius around where the mess was and worked my way in.

I eventually figured that I had it all, I went and got the dust pan and swept the remains into it then dumped them in the garbage. I set the wet broom outside the back door not wanting to drip milk on the floor and went under the sink to try to find some kind of cleaner. I grabbed the first bottle I found and sprayed it on the floor immediately smelling Windex. 'Eh, close enough.' I said and started wiping the floor with the paper towels I found under the sink as well.

I finally got to a point where I was pretty sure that I cleaned it all up when I started noticing drops of red starting to spatter the floor. I cursed again and realised that my hand towel had been soaked through with blood; I threw it in the garbage and grabbed a wad of paper towel not wanting to ruin another towel with my blood. I cleaned up the blood off of the ground and threw those paper towels in the garbage as well. With my mess finally cleaned up I decided I should head to the Cullen's house to get Carlisle to look at my hand, it must be deeper than I thought for it to be bleeding this badly.

I knew that Jasper left to go hunting with Edward, Rosalie and Emmett so I didn't have to fear him smelling my blood. I put on a sweater one handed which was difficult with my right arm unable to lift very high and went out the front door headed to the Cullen's. I had barely made it off of the porch steps when I was completely disoriented. I had stepped outside into a world of white. Snow must have fallen over night and into the morning without me knowing it and had covered the forest in a blanket of cold fluffy snow.

I was easily disoriented these days, if my brain didn't quite understand what I was perceiving or it just couldn't understand it then I would get horribly nauseatingly dizzy. That's how Alice found me sitting on the porch steps, head in my right hand, left hand hanging between my legs steadily dripping blood onto the white snow. The contrast between the red blood and white snow was so startling it was the only thing that made sense to my confused dizzy brain; I was watching it as I heard Alice approach.

'Bella?!' I heard her cry out along with the crunch of snow under her feet as she ran towards me. 'Bella, what happened?!' she reached me and put a hand on my shoulder crouching down in front of me.

'I'm fine Alice, just got dizzy.' I answered her concern.

'How long have you been sitting out here?' she asked, I couldn't see her but I could tell she was appraising me looking for other injuries.

'Only a few minutes.' I replied.

'What are you doing out here? What happened to your hand?' she asked grabbing my hand with her own, removing the saturated paper towels and I imagined examining the wound. 'We need to get you to Carlisle.'

'That's what I was trying to do when I got dizzy.' I explained.

'Alright, come on.' She said grabbing me under the arm and replacing the sodden paper towels back into my hand.

I rose with her and she started to pull me towards the house before she stopped 'Wait, where's your cane Bella?'

'I couldn't find it this morning; I think it rolled under the bed.' I offered.

'No wonder you're in such a mess.' She said backing me up to the stairs again. 'Sit back down I'll be right back.' She lowered me down to the cold wooden steps again and went into the cottage reappearing moments later. I felt her pull the paper towels out of my hand again and replace them with fresh new ones. She went back in the house to throw them out then came back and placed my cane in my right hand.

'There's no way you could have gotten to it, you should have called me.' She said lifting me to my feet again and starting the walk towards the main house.

'I'm trying to be more independent Alice; I don't want to ask for help with every little thing.' I said as we crunched through the snow. 'Clearly I wasn't ready.' I sighed.

'What happened to your hand Bella?' Alice asked more gently.

'Do you think we could get some plastic dishware for the cottage Alice?' I asked.

'Sure Bella, why?' She asked confused.

'I cut my hand cleaning up the bowl that I broke.' I admitted.

'Bella,' Alice scolded 'you shouldn't have tried to clean it up. I could have done it for you.'

'I know Alice, that's not the point. I just want to try to get my life back.' I said and we were quiet the rest of the way to the house.

'Carlisle!' Alice called when we walked into the house.

'Good morning Bella.' Carlisle greeted me as I kicked my shoes off at the front door. 'Oh dear.' He said taking my hand. 'What happened?'

'Dropped a bowl.' I said as he led me over to the dining room table, my cane hit the leg of the chair and before I could reach for it he pulled it out for me and led me to it. 'Sit Bella.' He said.

I collapsed my cane as I sat and put it on the chair next to me. 'Thanks Carlisle.'

'Let me see.' He said and I opened my hand up, he pulled the paper towel from my hand and made a _tsking_ sound. 'This is going to need stitches Bella. It's quite deep.'

I sighed 'Sorry Carlisle, I should have been smarter about it.'

'Nonsense Bella, you're figuring things out for yourself. It won't always be easy but you'll get it. I'm proud of you, don't give up, keep trying.' He said.

'Thanks Carlisle.' I said in a small voice as he probed my hand.

'Does it hurt?' he asked me.

'Not much.' I responded truthfully.

'I guess you've experienced much worse.' He said and I laughed a humourless laugh. 'I'll be right back.' I heard him walk away in the direction of his study.

'Good morning Bella.' Esme said surprising me; I didn't know she was in the room. 'Have you had breakfast?' she asked me.

Turning my head towards her I said 'Good morning Esme, no, my breakfast got interrupted.' I motioned towards my hand.

'How about I make you something?' she asked rubbing a hand on my back.

'You don't have to do that Esme, I'm ok.' I said not wanting to be more of a burden.

'Please, it's my pleasure.' she said as she took off towards the kitchen.

I heard a chair scrape across the table and I squinted hard to see who it was to no avail.

'How's your vision today?' Alice's concerned voice asked from the occupied seat across the table.

I just shook my head at her question and as if in response I rubbed my eyes in annoyance at how blurry everything was today.

'I figured.' She said in response. 'When Carlisle is done with you how about you and I go and do some shopping in Port Angeles? I think you're more than due for a shopping trip.'

'Oh Alice.' I said feeling my anxiety heighten at the thought of being in public. 'I don't know…'

'C'mon Bella, we'll get you some new dishes, some new clothes and then we'll come home.' She practically begged. As much as I didn't want to be so far away from home, at least by going to Port Angeles I would be unlikely to run into anyone from Forks. Maybe this trip would do me some good, give me some more confidence and I really did want some new dishes.

'Alright Alice,' I said begrudgingly 'I'll come with you.'

'Yay!' she squealed in response.

I heard Carlisle approach again 'All right Bella, we'll get you fixed up and then you and Alice can go out together.'

'Thanks Carlisle.' I responded and he got to work cleaning my hand, when he was satisfied he used a topical cream to numb around the edges of the wound and waited for it to kick in. He poked me with the dull end of the needle.

'Anything?' he asked me and I shook my head. He got to work sewing the cut in my hand. 'It really is quite deep, you did a good job on it.' He said laughing and I laughed back.

'You know me, I don't do anything halfway.' I said to him as I felt the pull of stitches in my hand. Before I knew it he was done and he was cleaning my hand one more time and wrapping a bandage around my palm.

'All right Bella, I'm all done. I'm going to give you something for the pain.' He said and I started to object but he quickly cut me off. 'I know that you're reluctant to take any more medications but it's just Tylenol. I don't want your hand throbbing when you're away from home and away from medicine.' He said and I conceded taking the two pills that he offered me downing them with a swig of water.

I could smell whatever it was that Esme was cooking for me and it smelled divine. Carlisle cleaned up the mess he had made while cleaning and stitching my hand and I thanked him for his help. Not ten minutes later Esme brought my breakfast to the table, I couldn't tell exactly what it was but I knew it was an omelette of some sort and toast- much better than the cereal I had tried to pour myself earlier today.

'Thank you Esme, it smells delicious.' I said as she placed it in front of me. After a night of little sleep and a stressful morning I found I wasn't very hungry but I ate as much as I could and it really did taste very good.

'Are you done?' Alice asked as I leaned back unable to eat anymore.

'Yeah I'm done.' I answered and she came over and picked up my plate, bringing it to the kitchen for me, I normally would object to being doted on but after my morning I just shut up and said 'Thank you Alice.'

'Are you ready to go out?' she asked me.

'Yeah, can you fix my hair first?' I asked, my hair had been such an annoyance for me, I could never see it properly and thus never knew if it looked good or not.

'Of course.' she said and almost immediately started brushing my hair as if she was just waiting for me to ask. 'Perfect!' she said after only a few seconds, at least my hair behaved pretty well generally. That is as long as you don't try to tie it up in a ponytail. Ever since I had the back of my head shaved it's still been growing back in, it was about 2 inches long at this point and would stick out in every direction if I tried to constrain it.

I pushed myself up from the table grabbing my cane in my right hand in the process and almost immediately tripped over the chair righting myself painfully with my right leg, pain searing its way up my right thigh. I dropped my cane and gripped the back of the chair with my right hand.

'Crap, Bella are you ok?' Alice asked coming to my side.

I nodded eyes closed tightly shut sucking air in through my nose fighting through the pain. I quickly regained my composure and pushed myself up straight; Alice passed me my discarded cane and offered me her arm- something the Cullen's tried to do less often these days.

'Not having a good day, huh?' she asked me gently.

'No.' I said shaking my head. 'Didn't sleep well.'

'Your vision is so much worse when you don't sleep, isn't it?' She asked leading me to the front door and offering me a coat, taking the cane from me and giving it back when I had zipped it up.

'Seems to be when it's the worst for sure.' I responded taking her arm again as we walked out the door.

'Step.' Alice offered helpfully as my cane bumped down the stairs.

A new issue that had arisen since my blindness is that I get car sick, the inability to see what was going on clearly around me but having the world flying by me was nauseating. By the time we got to Port Angeles I was feeling quite queasy but the cool November air was refreshing and helped to clear my head a bit.

I have never enjoyed shopping but I know that it's Alice's favourite thing and that's why I found myself sitting in a clothing store surrounded by clothing I could barely see. She had done so much for me in the past few months, all of the Cullen's had that I felt like I couldn't say no when she wanted something so easy of me. I felt as though I could feel the looks of people on me especially when the stores employees would come over periodically and ask we required help, Alice would simply reply 'No thank you.' And they would wander off.

It was when I saw a flash of bright pink that I said 'Alice, I'm trusting you. Please don't put me in anything that I wouldn't put myself in.'

She sighed 'Fine Bella, it's no fun if I have to trick you into it anyway.'

After that I saw mostly muted neutral tones and thankfully Alice knew me and my body so well that I didn't really have to try much on. After the clothes store we went and purchased a whole new set of plastic plates, bowls and cups. Much to my surprise we only shopped for about 2 hours before she let me go back home. The ride home was worse than the ride there and by the time we got back I was doubled over on myself trying not to vomit.

'House or cottage?' Alice asked me simply.

'Cottage please.' I didn't want an audience if I vomited. She helped me to walk up to the cottage and I hurried for the bathroom hugging the toilet. I retched a few times but never actually vomited which meant that the nausea didn't go away. After a while Alice led me back to the couch and I curled up on my side in the fetal position. Alice turned on the TV for me as some comforting background noise and placed a wet washcloth on my forehead. I heard her bustling around the cottage putting the new clothes in the washing machine and washing the new dishes in the sink. I also heard the familiar clinking of the ceramic and glass dishes being loaded into a box and packed away.

It was early evening before Edward came back home and it was in this same position that he found me when he arrived. I had been curled up on the couch since we got home, the nausea barely improving at all. Alice must have silently told him what went on today because he didn't ask any questions about why I was curled up on the couch how I was. He just came and sat down next to me and brushed the hair out of my eyes.

'Bad day, huh?' he asked quietly.

'Sorry.' I said 'You should be able to leave without things falling apart.'

'Why are things so much worse for you when I leave?' he asked me.

'I don't know.' I lied and he sensed it.

'Bella, you can tell me.'

'You're already loathe to leave me I don't want to make it any worse.' I explained.

I have to know love, so I can fix it.' He pushed.

'You can't fix it.' I said sighing. 'When you're here you keep the nightmares at bay, when you leave I get such bad night terrors that I barely get any sleep, and when I don't sleep my vision is bad the next day.' I said shrugging. 'There's nothing to be done about it Edward, you still have to go out and hunt.'

He kissed me on the forehead 'I'm sorry Bella.' He said unsure of what else to say.

'It's not your fault Edward, I'm sure it will get better with time.' I told him.

'Mm.' Was all he said in response. 'Are you still nauseous?' he asked and I nodded. He went to the bathroom and came back with a pill that he placed in my hand. 'It's a Gravol.' He said. 'It might make you tired but at least the nausea will go away. Longer car rides are still out of the question I guess.'

'For the foreseeable future anyway.' I agreed.

We were quiet for a few minutes before Edward said 'It reeks of your blood in here, what has your blood on it?'

'Oh crap, sorry.' I said sitting up 'I forgot to empty the garbage.' I went to get up to get it and Edward gently pushed me back down.

'It's ok Bella, I'll get it. Stay laying until you feel better.' Edward said getting up and heading to the kitchen to empty the garbage.

When he came back I was laying on the couch again starting to drift off. 'How about you eat some dinner then go to bed?' Edward asked and so I did. I quickly ate some leftovers then went to bed with Edward falling asleep almost immediately.

When I woke the next morning the sun was low in the sky signalling that it was about 6am, I had slept almost 12 hours.

'Good morning.' Edward greeted me with his usual good morning kiss. 'Any nightmares last night?' he asked.

'None.' I smiled at him reaching up and feeling his face. This is something I had taken to doing since the accident; it helped to fill in some of the holes so to speak. He always accepted it without question, letting me do what I need to do to make my world make sense.

'How's the vision today?' he asked gently.

'Much better than yesterday, that sleep did me good.' I answered.

The day passed much less eventfully than yesterday, I didn't have any accidents and in the afternoon I decided that I wanted to go and make dinner for Charlie. Edward and I went to the grocery store to buy everything I needed to make stuffed peppers. This trip was much more anxiety inducing than the trip to Port Angeles, I was much more likely to run into someone I knew here in Forks. Because of this I refused to use my cane and pushed the cart instead getting Edward to grab all of the items we needed and also relying on him to help me steer.

The grocery store was extremely overwhelming, it was incredibly busy and there was so much visual clutter I was having a harder time than usual with my depth perception, I was constantly feeling like I was going to run into things. By the time we were done a headache had started at the back of my head as it often did when I became overwhelmed. Thankfully we managed to make it out of the grocery store without running into anyone I knew and we headed to Charlie's house.

Edward helped me a great deal in the kitchen, reading the recipe, helping me to measure but stood by vigilantly as I diced and cooked ready to step in if I was about to cut or burn myself. I was grateful that he didn't oppose to me doing these things that I knew myself capable of, but were potentially dangerous.

'Charlie's home.' Edward said right as I was pulling the peppers from the oven and placing them on the stove.

'What time is it?' I asked.

'Just about 6:30.' He said gently grabbing my right arm as I turned stopping me from burning my arm on the baking sheet.

'Oh, woops! Thanks Edward.' I said gratefully.

'No problem love.' He said as Charlie walked in through the front door.

'Hello?' I heard Charlie call as he entered the front door; I hadn't warned him we were coming wanting to surprise him with dinner.

'Hey Dad, we're in here.' I called to him.

'Bells?' He responded, it wasn't until I called to him that I heard him set his gun belt down at the door. 'Something smells good.' He said as he walked into the kitchen. 'Hey Edward.' Charlie said pleasantly, ever since the accident Charlie had been very pleasant towards Edward, eternally thankful that he had kept me alive after the tsunami.

'Hey kid.' He said hugging me 'How are you doing today? You made all this?'

'Hey Dad, I'm good today and yeah it's been so long since I made you dinner and I felt like doing something useful for once.' I said to him.

'Um Bells, it's super nice of you and I appreciate it but Sue is on her way right now, she was going to make dinner here tonight. Is she able to join us?' Charlie asked sheepishly.

'Of course Dad,' I said smiling 'There's more than enough for everyone.'

'What happened to your hand Bella?' Charlie asked having just noticed the bandage around my hand that I had nearly forgotten.

I held my hand up 'Oh yeah, I cut it cleaning up a bowl I dropped yesterday, its fine I barely even feel it.' It was quiet for a moment and I assumed that Charlie and Edward were silently communicating but my sight wasn't good enough to pick up on it. It was things like this I hated; everyone knew they could get away with talking about me silently without me knowing.

I cleared my throat awkwardly and asked 'So when is Sue going to be here?'

'In the next half an hour I think.' He answered after a moment.

'I still have to make a salad, why don't you go and get cleaned up and I'll have it ready by the time she gets here.' I said.

'Sounds good, I'm going to try to call her first and hopefully catch her before she leaves so she knows she doesn't have to cook today.' Charlie said walking to the phone and calling Sue. Thankfully she hadn't left yet and he told her what was going on.

Charlie went upstairs to change and I pulled out a head of romaine lettuce and started cutting it up along with carrots, celery and onion. I mixed the salad up with some salad dressing and put the bowl in the middle of the table. I poured water for everyone next using my finger inside the glass so I would know when to stop pouring.

'I'm sorry that you have to, but you're adjusting so well.' Edward said unexpectedly with both pride and sadness in his voice.

'Thanks Edward.' I said looking up at him surprised. 'It really doesn't feel like it sometimes, when I no longer feel like a burden I might start to believe it.'

'Don't be so hard on yourself.' He said wrapping his arms around me and kissing me on the top of my head. 'You're doing remarkably well.'

I served the stuffed peppers and had Edward hover close by in case I had another mishap, thankfully nothing of the sort happened. Charlie came downstairs almost at the same time that Sue walked in. Sue came to me and pulled me into a gentle hug, it was the first time I had seen her since the accident. When I came over previously my dad kept the house empty to make sure things were quiet for me. I could tell that Sue was glad to see me well; I could tell she had been very worried.

'It's so good to see you Bella, I'm so glad you're well.' Sue said sincerely.

'Thanks Sue, it's great to see you as well. Thank you for taking care of Charlie and making sure that he eats.' I said laughing and she laughed in return pulling away from me.

'You know that I did cook for myself for many years before you two right?' Charlie said a little miffed.

'Yeah and I'm not sure how you survived.' I said, Sue laughing again.

It said a lot about how much Sue cared about my Dad that as far as I could tell she was civil to Edward even though I knew how uncomfortable him and the rest of the Cullen's made her. Charlie had stopped asking by now, and I think he might have briefed Sue about the fact that Edward just didn't eat with us, we didn't even have to supply an explanation about why he sat at the table with no food in front of him.

When dinner was done Edward cleared the table for me and I went to go and do the dishes.

'Bells you don't have to do that.' Charlie said.

'It's okay.' I responded 'I don't mind. I would appreciate if you put the dishes away though.' I said.

'No problem.' He responded.

Edward poured the water and washed the knives I used then he let me do the rest knowing I wanted to do whatever 'normal' tasks that I could. I washed the dishes and Charlie dried and put them away only having to send back a few that I missed some of the food on. I couldn't really see where the dishes were dirty at all; it took me feeling along the dishes to find it. As monotonous as doing the dishes was I found myself enjoying it, any task I could do nowadays that was useful made me feel good.

By the time we were done we decided to go home as it was pushing 9:30pm and I was starting to get fairly tired and plus I knew Charlie worked in the morning so I didn't want to overstay my welcome.

'I think we'll head out now Dad.' I said after I handed him the last plate.

'Alrighty Bella, thanks again for dinner it was such a nice surprise to have you both here.' He said.

I started making my way to the front door to put my jacket on while Edward stayed in the kitchen finishing his conversation with Sue. I was halfway down the hallway when I went to take a step with my right foot and it struck something that was a foreign object in the usually clear hallway. I wasn't able to pull my right foot forward and my momentum sent me crashing down onto my right knee. It took everything in me not to cry out as a horrible bolt of pain exploded in my thigh from the impact.

'Bella!' Charlie cried out having seen me fall to the floor. I felt him pull the object out from under my foot and he helped me to sit on my bottom and pull my right leg out from under me stretching it out in front of me. I sat back with my back against the wall of the hallway with my right foot almost touching the wall of the narrow hall around me.

I sat with my eyes scrunched closed sucking air in through my nose, I was so distracted by the pain I didn't notice Edward approach.

'What happened?' he asked from right next to me, voice even and controlled.

'She tripped on Sue's purse.' said Charlie sounding pretty upset.

'Oh my god. Bella I am so, so sorry. I didn't even think, I am _so_ sorry!' Sue apologized profusely sounding genuinely upset.

'It's okay.' I said breathily, pain starting to abate 'I'm fine, don't worry about it. It's an easy mistake to make; I should have brought my cane.'

'No Bella, you shouldn't need your cane in your father's house, it's entirely my fault and I promise it won't happen again.' Sue said.

'Okay.' I said after a few more moments and reached my arm over to Edward silently asking for help standing up and he slowly helped me to my feet. I put weight through my foot and there was a deep ache through my right thigh and when I put my full weight through it sent a sharp pain through. It was very painful but manageable.

'Are you okay Bella?' Charlie asked and I nodded.

'Yeah I'll be fine Dad.' I said to him and turned to the woman hovering at the entrance to the kitchen 'I'm okay Sue, honestly. Don't worry, it's just sore- I'll be fine in no time.' I tried to reassure her.

Charlie came and hugged me 'I really am glad you came Bells, it was so good to see you. Don't be a stranger kid, okay?'

'Of course not Dad, I'll be back again really soon. I promise.' I told him returning the hug.

'Bye Bella.' Both Charlie and Sue said as Edward held my arm and helped me limp from the house.

I leaned heavily on Edward as he led me back to his Volvo. 'Are you okay Bella?' he asked me for the first time, thankfully he had been fairly silent in the house- I knew how he could be when I was hurt.

'I'll be okay, it's just sore. I don't think I did anything too bad to it.' I told him.

'I'm sorry Bella, I should have been with you and I should have seen her bag on the floor.' Edward said guiltily.

'Oh Edward, you can't stop every little thing from happening to me. I was clumsy before, but nowadays I'm a walking disaster. I'm going to have accidents and you won't always be able to stop it. You've got to get past this self-loathing and blaming yourself.' I admonished him.

He sighed 'Unfortunately you're right.' He helped me sit in the passenger side of the Volvo helping to slowly get my right leg into the car without causing me any more pain. 'It's something I have to work on.' He said leaning in to kiss me then closing the car door.

I looked out the passenger door towards Charlie's house and could faintly make out my old rust coloured truck. Edward got into the car next to me. 'It makes me sad seeing my truck sitting there obsolete.' I said to him.

'Your truck has been obsolete for a long time.' He said joking.

'Be nice, she served me well.' I scolded him.

'So what are you thinking?' he asked me knowing my train of thought didn't stop there.

'I'm thinking she should go to someone who can drive her and take care of her.' I responded. 'I think I want to give Jacob back the truck. I know he doesn't have as much time for it these days but I figured that he would have more use for it than I do and if he doesn't want it maybe he knows someone that would want it.'

'Okay Bella, if that's what you want; we can give him a call tomorrow.' Edward said and I nodded. Ever since the wedding Jacob had come back home and been around a lot more, he saw the toll that his absence was having on his father. He hadn't come to see me since I lived on the Cullen's land but we had talked on the phone quite a few times and I had told him everything that had happened to me.

The next morning I called Jacob and asked him if he wanted it or knew someone that did and he said that he absolutely did and would meet me at my Dad's house later that afternoon. Around 4pm Edward drove me to my Dad's house and decided to wait in town until I called him and asked him to pick me up. He still didn't fully trust Jacob and wanted to be close in case I needed him.

My dad was still at work when I arrived at his house and it was eerily silent and dark in the gloomy November afternoon. It didn't take long before I heard an engine approach and idle outside of the house. After a few seconds I heard a light knock on the door and went to answer it. I was swept up in a huge hug by my friend that I hadn't seen since the night of my wedding.

'Bella! I'm so happy to see you!' he said into my hair.

'Jake.' I said trying to wriggle out of his arms. 'Ow.'

'Oh crap, sorry Bella.' He said immediately setting me back on my feet.

'Still fairly sore.' I said to him.

'I'm sorry I should have realised, you look so good though Bells.' He said 'I never could have guessed what happened to you just by looking at you.'

'Thanks Jake, let's go sit down.' I said leading him back to the living room limping more heavily than normally.

'Is your leg okay Bella?' he asked as he followed behind me.

'Yeah, last night we had dinner here and Sue left her purse in the hall. I wasn't expecting it to be there, I didn't see it and I tripped and fell. Just exacerbated the wound in my leg, it'll be better soon.' I told him.

'Good to hear.' He said quietly. 'How is your vision Bella?' he asked delicately.

'Better some days than others, but even on the best days it's not good. Things are confusing and hard to understand, my brain just can't make sense of the information that my eyes are sending to it. I honestly don't think that it will ever be normal again- hence the getting rid of the truck.' I explained to him.

'I'm so sorry Bella- that's not fair.' Jacob said sincerely.

'It's not, but it could have been so much worse. I came so close to death that dealing with a limp, a bad shoulder and crappy eyesight is nothing. I'll be fine.' I said appreciating his thoughtfulness.

'Honestly, I'm just glad you came back human.' Jacob said. 'I figured there was no chance that you would come back, well, you.'

My eyes narrowed 'So you preferred that I came back injured the way I am having almost died instead of coming back as a vampire?'

'Honestly? Yes.' He said truthfully and I felt my blood start to boil.

'Jacob Black you haven't even been here five minutes and you've already managed to say something incredibly hurtful and offensive.' I said getting up and walking into the kitchen.

'Here.' I said pushing a piece of paper into Jacob's chest as I came back to the living room. 'It's the ownership to the truck, just take it and go.' I went to turn away from him and he grabbed my wrist.

'Aw Bella, I'm sorry. I don't know why I say the things that I do sometimes.' He said standing taking my hand.

'If you are going to be my friend you have to stop being so prejudiced, my husband and my family are all vampires and one day I probably will be too.' I said angrily. 'You have to realise that I will be the same person then that I am now.'

'Why aren't you?' he asked suddenly.

'Why aren't I what?' I asked confused.

'Why aren't you a vampire? Edward was presented with the perfect opportunity to change you and didn't. Why? No one could have blamed him if he did.' Jacob asked surprising me and letting go of my hand.

'It's complicated.' I said slowly, 'Edward and I had talked about it and I had decided that I wasn't quite ready yet, mostly I wasn't ready to leave my father.' I told him.

'I thought you were gung ho and ready to leave your old life behind.'

I shrugged 'I still want that, just not yet. I'm glad that Edward did what he did, I've really cherished the time I've had with my Dad since the accident.'

'It doesn't have to end Bella, you don't have to change.' He said taking a step towards me.

'I swear Jacob; I'm not ever having this conversation with you again. Drop it or leave, that's enough. I said fiercely, I wasn't putting up with him anymore.

'Ok, ok Bella. I'm sorry I'll stop.' He said apologetically. 'Do you feel like going for a ride in the truck before I take it? Maybe down to La Push for a bit?' he asked hopefully.

I shook my head 'Going for rides in the car is kind of a nightmare for me these days; I get really motion sick from not being able to see. And I'm not quite ready for a trip to La Push yet, my world has shrunk considerably and it will take a while for it to grow back to where it was.' I said.

'Alright Bella.' He said gently. 'You're so you that it's hard to remember that you've changed, I'll get used to it I swear.' He said and led me back to the couch. We sat and talked and I mostly let him talk about what had been going on in the pack and on the reservation- all of the drama and skirmishes and new imprintings.

By the time Charlie came home around 6:30 our conversation had begun winding down and Jacob excused himself thanking me for the truck and greeting Charlie.

'You gave Jake the truck?' Charlie asked me surprised.

'Yeah, I figured we shouldn't let it rot in the driveway forever, a truck needs to be driven. Plus, Jake can take care of it.' I explained to him lowering myself to sit in a dining room chair.

'You're going to drive again Bella.' Charlie said matter-of-factly, a little defensively. He was ever the optimist.

'I know Dad.' I said seeing no reason to argue with him, I loved that he believed in me, even beyond what was reasonable. 'But it probably won't be for a while, and the truck doesn't have a ton of life left in it. It would be a shame for it to never drive again.'

'I guess.' He agreed reluctantly.

'Plus, Edward is dying to buy me a car once I can drive again and I'd hate to deny him of the privilege.' I finished, laughing.

He laughed too knowing how Edward was with his cars. 'Alright, yeah I get it.'

'Plus Sue can park in the driveway now too, that's a plus.' I said. Charlie made us a quick dinner of spaghetti and meatballs and we chatted for a while.

'What are you thinking of doing next Bells?' Charlie asked me, I knew what he was referring to.

'Well, I don't think I could handle taking on school full time but after hearing what happened the University of Alaska offered us a later start date of April this year. Edward and I talked and I think that we will accept it and just take one or two courses instead of the full curriculum. We'll see how it goes and maybe continue from there if all goes well.' I told him.

'Do you think you could handle school right now? With the reading and taking notes and writing tests?' He asked me.

'Well I have Edward to help me with the reading and note taking and the school has adaptive learning and will let me take my tests verbally so I don't have to write anything.' I told him.

'Sounds like you've got it all figured out.' Charlie said. 'Do you think you're ready? Don't push yourself too hard too fast, school isn't going anywhere.'

'I know.' I said 'But I feel like I need to do something, sitting around doing nothing isn't helping me, I'm ready to push myself a little bit.' I was truly going stir crazy in the cabin every day.

'You're still set on Alaska?' he asked, the disapproval obvious in his voice.

'I am, I want the experience and plus going so far away where no one will know me just feels like what I need to get my confidence back. I'm so self-conscious here- worried that someone I know will see me with my cane that I'm often too anxious to go out in public.' I explained.

'Bells that's silly, no one is judging you.' Charlie said.

'Well in Alaska even if people do judge me I won't care because I don't know who they are.' He laughed at this.

'Can't argue with that logic.' He said and I laughed back.

'I'll miss you when you go Bella.' Charlie said after a short silence.

'It won't be forever.' I said smiling at him knowing that one of these days it would be forever and hoping that going away to school might make leaving him one day easier.

'No, it won't.' he agreed. 'Renee won't be happy with you moving even farther away.'

I laughed 'She'll be okay; we'll come back as often as we can.'

We chatted for a while longer before Edward showed up to pick me up. I had called him after Jake left to let him know he could head home and pick me up later so he didn't have to hang around town all night. I bid Charlie farewell and promised to visit again soon and we made our way out.

'How was your day?' Edward asked on the way out.

'It was good, Jacob was Jacob but he came around. I had a good talk with Charlie about school.' I said.

'Oh yeah?' he asked helping me into the car. 'Does that mean you've decided?'

'Yeah I think so; I'm ready for a fresh start- a new beginning.' I said as he got into his side of the car.

'I think that sounds like a great idea.' He said. 'I guess we have 5 months to get ready, Alice is going to have a fit.'

'Alice?' I asked.

'You have to know there's no chance of us going without her right?' he said smiling.

'I didn't really think about it but yeah you're right. It will be nice to have a friendly face there.' I said.

'And someone to keep an eye on you when I go hunting, keep you in one piece.' He laughed again.

'Yeah, yeah.' I said. 'Oh, are we still able to approve the offer?' I asked suddenly realizing it might be too late.

He smiled wryly at me 'I did last month.' I looked at him quizzically 'Alice was fairly certain that this would be your decision and had me approve the offers before it was too late. She's been planning everything for the last month; we have a house ready any everything.

'Of course you do.' I said, I shouldn't have been surprised, it was Alice after all.

'I'm so glad you made this decision, I can't wait for you to go to school.' He said to me.

'I wish I shared your enthusiasm. I'll be relying on you pretty heavily to help me get through it.' I said.

'I'll help you get through anything Bella. Always.'

 _She's done friends! Please let me know what you think! It wasn't super exciting but I wanted to show Bella's return to normalcy after becoming visually impaired. I hope it lived up to your expectations. Like I said I have plans for a new story similar to this one and so I hope you'll stick around for it. Until next time!_


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